More Americans have positive outlook on economy now, but majority says it’s in poor shape: poll

More Americans have a positive outlook on the economy now than a year ago, but the vast majority still say it’s in poor shape, according to a new CNN poll released on Friday.

Twenty-nine percent in the poll said that economic conditions in the U.S. are good, the highest percentage for indicating that since December 2021. However, another 71 percent said they think the U.S. economy is in poor shape, the poll found.

Americans’ outlook on the economy was particularly low last June and July, with the percentage of respondents saying the economy was “good” sitting at a measly 18 percent, as inflation reached a 40-year high.

Republicans in this poll were more likely than their Democratic counterparts to have a negative view of the economy. While 52 percent of Democrats said economic conditions are good, 92 percent of Republicans said the opposite.

The economy remains one of the most important issues for Americans, with 37 percent saying it is the key issue facing the country, the poll found. Among the nearly half of respondents who said things are going badly overall in the U.S., 52 percent cited the economy as the primary reason for their answer.

The latest jobs report from the Labor Department, also released on Friday, showed that unemployment fell to 3.5 percent and the economy added about 236,000 jobs in March, suggesting the labor market has remained resilient despite recent interest rate hikes.

The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS from March 1-31 with 1,595 respondents and had a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.