Americans’ views of pandemic, economy tick up: poll

A new CBS News-YouGov poll found that Americans are beginning to feel somewhat better about the pandemic and the economy after optimism plummeted in January.

Pollsters found that majorities still said that they felt the U.S. is not dealing with the pandemic or the economy well.

But when asked how they felt things are going for the U.S. in its efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, 47 percent said they felt things are going well, an 11-point increase from January.

As for the economy, 35 percent said they felt that the economy is in “good” condition, rising by 5 percentage points in the last month, while 59 percent said they felt that it is in “bad” condition. When asked about what factors they consider when rating the U.S. economy, respondents listed the price of food and services, gas prices and the impact of the pandemic among the top issues.

When it comes to President Biden’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, 49 percent thought he is doing a good job while 51 percent said they thought he is doing badly. He fared worse when it came to the economy, with 41 percent approving of his performance in this area.

Biden received an overall approval rating of 44 percent in the survey.

The CBS News-YouGov poll included a sample size of 2,578 U.S. adults and was conducted from Feb. 8-11. The results have a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.