Optimistic outlooks are highest among Black and Hispanic Americans, while Whites have the market cornered on negative expectations
The roughly one in four Americans expecting the economy to improve in the coming year is all but unchanged from June (26%, vs. 25% in June). However, pessimism continues to grow, with three in ten Americans expecting the economy to get worse in that time (30%, up from 27% in June and 21% at the beginning of the year).
Optimism is strongest among Blacks and Hispanics, with 56% and 49%, respectively, expecting the economy to improve (vs. 22% of Whites and 19% of Asians), while Whites are especially likely to expect that it will get worse (32% vs. 13% of Blacks, 22% of Hispanics and 26% of Asians).
Looking at the political spectrum, Democrats are split between the expectations that the economy will get better and that it will stay the same (43% each), while a plurality of Republicans believe it will get worse (46%, with 42% expecting it will stay the same).
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll® of 2,368 general population U.S. adults, along with representative oversamples of 511 Hispanic Americans (interviewed in English and Spanish) and 179 Asian Americans (interviewed in English), surveyed online between September 9 and 17, 2015. Full results of the study, including data tables, can be found here.
Looking homeward, 27% of Americans expect their household financial condition to be better in the next six months while 23% expect it to be worse. Both outlooks are at their highest points in some time (since January for the positive expectations, since last year for negative ones), which means that one way or another, fewer Americans are expecting their household finances to remain the same (50%, down from 55% in June).
Blacks are the most optimistic sub-segment of the population, with six in ten (60%) expecting their household's financial condition to be better in the next six months, compared to over a third of Hispanics (36%) and two in ten Asians (21%) and Whites (20%).
Politically, optimism is highest among Democrats (40% vs. 20% among Independents and 15% among Republicans.
Presidential ratings
Four in ten (41%) Americans give President Obama positive ratings on his overall job performance, while six in ten (59%) rate him negatively. While nearly identical to last month (when 40% gave him positive ratings), this month's positive ratings mark a considerable improvement over a year ago, when 30% of Americans gave him positive ratings. Findings are similar for the President's showing on the economy, with the 39% of Americans giving him positive ratings (vs. 61% rating him negatively) all but unchanged from the 40% who did the same last month but up considerably from 29% a year ago.
Strong majorities of Blacks give the President positive ratings both overall (77%) and in regards to the economy (76%).
A 56% majority of Hispanics rate the President positively overall, but opinions are more mixed among this group in regards to his performance on the economy (51% positive, 49% negative).
Two-thirds of Whites and nearly six in ten Asians give the President negative ratings both overall (66% White, 59% Asian) and for his handling of the economy (66%, 58%).
Looking along party lines, strong majorities of Democrats give the President positive ratings (73% overall, 71% economy), while considerable majorities of Independents (65%, 66%) and predictably vast majorities of Republicans (92% each) give him negative marks.
Congress and the overall state of the country
For a couple of months there, Congress managed double digit positive ratings. Not so this month, with 9% giving Congress positive ratings and 91% rating it negatively.
While disdain for Congress is fairly universal, Hispanics and Blacks (20% and 17%, respectively) are most likely to give the body positive marks than Asians and Whites (13% and 6%).
Generationally, Millennials (16%) are at least twice as likely as any other generation to rate Congress positively (vs. 8% of Gen Xers, 4% of Baby Boomers and less than half a percentage point among Matures).
All political persuasions display low opinions of Congress, though it's worth noting that Democrats are roughly twice as likely as either Republicans or Independents to give Congress positive ratings (13% Democrats vs. 6% each Republicans and Independents).
Roughly a third of Americans believe that the country is headed in the right direction (32%, down marginally from 34% last month but also up slightly from 29% a year ago), while roughly two-thirds (68%) feel the country has gotten off on the wrong track.
Blacks (66%), Hispanics (52%) and Asians (44%) are all much more likely than Whites (27%) to believe the country is headed in the right direction while Whites are far more likely to feel things in the country have gotten off on the wrong track (73% Whites vs. 56% Asians, 48% Hispanics, 34% Blacks).
The majority of Democrats (55%) believe things are going in the right direction, while three-fourths of Independents (75%) and nearly nine in ten Republicans (88%) feel things have gotten off on the wrong track.
