The American public views the Biden economy as in worse shape than any time since February 2009, when the economy was in a deep recession, still staggering from the implosion of the housing bubble, and shocked by the financial crisis that had recently toppled major banks, government-sponsored mortgage companies, Wall Street firms, and insurance companies, a Gallup poll indicates.
Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index, which is a summary of Americans’ ratings of current economic conditions and outlook for the economy, plunged 13 points over the past month to minus 58. The index has a theoretical range from +100 if all respondents describe the economy in positive terms and think it’s improving to -100 if all describe it in negative terms and think it’s worsening.
The June score is the lowest measured since minus 64 in February 2009. The all0time low was negative 72 in October 2008.
A shocking 85 percent in June say the economy is getting worse, up from 77 percent in May and only two points below of the record high hit in June 2008.
The percentage of Americans calling current conditions “poor” has risen eight percentage points in June to 54 percent, the first time a majority of Americans has seen conditions as poor since 2009. An additional 34 percent say current conditions are “only fair,” bringing the total negative assessment to 88 percent. Just 11 percent say conditions are good and less than one percent say conditions are excellent.