U.S. economic confidence up sharply after President Obama's speech
Staff Writer |
The Gallup Economic Confidence Index rose sharply for the week of July 25-31, climbing to -10.
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This broke a six-week streak in which the index did not reach any higher than -15, the average for July.
The economy featured prominently in the speeches of many Democratic leaders at the Democratic National Convention last week in Philadelphia, including President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
In his prime-time address to the convention, Obama declared "after the worst recession in 80 years," the country had "fought (its) way back." Other speakers, including the nominee Hillary Clinton, pointed to an unemployment rate at an almost eight-year low and a recovery that has generated 15 million jobs as evidence of the economy's strength.
At least some in the U.S. appear to have found these arguments compelling with economic confidence increasing to -10 from -16 the week before.
This is despite the disappointing announcement by the U.S. Commerce Department that U.S. GDP growth came in at 1.2% for the second quarter of 2016. Additionally, the Gallup U.S. Economic Confidence Index three-day rolling average moved as high as -8 over July 27-29, its highest score since mid-March.
Economic confidence increased sharply among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents last week, up 12 points from +16 to +28. Economic confidence among Republicans and Republican-leaners did not change, holding at a -44 index score.
The disparity in economic confidence between Republicans and Democrats widened to its highest point yet in 2016, with the gap between these parties' economic confidence measuring 72 points.
Gallup's U.S. Economic Confidence Index is the average of two components: how Americans rate current economic conditions and whether they feel the economy is improving or getting worse.
The index has a theoretical maximum of +100 if all Americans say the economy is doing well and improving, and a theoretical minimum of -100 if all Americans say the economy is doing poorly and getting worse.
Both components of the U.S. Economic Confidence Index saw notable improvement for the week of July 25-31.
Equal percentages of Americans (28%) described current economic conditions as "excellent" or "good" as said they were "poor," bringing the current conditions index to the neutral point of 0. This is up six points from the week before.
Meanwhile, nearly four in 10 U.S. adults (38%) said economic conditions in the country were "getting better," compared with 57% who said they were getting worse, for a future conditions index score of -19. This is also up six points from the third week of July. ■