Poll: Americans Remain Pessimistic About Economy

In the wake of reports that American workers are likely to be underskilled and encounter difficulty paying the tab for college, should it be surprising that they are still pessimistic about the job market and economy?

That's the conclusion of a new Harris Poll, which suggests that recent efforts to jumpstart the economy and inspire consumers have not shifted attitudes among an increasingly cynical population.

Thirty-nine percent of respondents surveyed in April 2009 said they expected the economy to improve during the following year, according to the poll, but now just 21 percent of Americans said they believed things will improve when asked this month.

“Hand in hand with pessimism on the overall economy is pessimism on the job market,” reads the report. “Two-thirds of Americans rate the current job market in their region of the country as bad, one in ten rate it as good and 22 percent say it is neither good nor bad.”

To obtain the results, researchers polled more than 2,000 adults aged 18 and older online.

The poll also brings some bad news regarding President Barack Obama's economic policy. While 47 percent of respondents approved of the president's handling of the economy in March 2009, just 21 percent were supportive this September.

However, the proportion of respondents who believe the job market in their region is faring well has held steady—in the low teens throughout 2010 and 2011 so far, with a high of 16 percent this May.

The poll also demonstrates a split in opinion between the majority of Americans who believe the recession is ongoing, those who believe the recession has ended, and others who feel the economy is entering a second recession.

Republicans were more likely to believe the economy remains in a recession than Democrats, by a margin of 76 to 65 percent.

Overall, the report's authors seem to feel that low confidence in the market is the result of uncertainty and growing distrust in expert and official opinion.

“Americans are waiting for answers on when the economy is going to turn around,” reads the report. “Right now, they do not have much optimism that things are going to get better soon. In fact, contrary to what economists have been saying, Americans do not even think we have come out of the recession.”

The Harris Poll is a public opinion poll established in 1963 by market research firm Harris Interactive.

Jon Christian is a staff writer with Campus Progress. Follow him on Twitter @Jon_Christian.

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