POLL: Americans Haven’t Been This Pessimistic About The Economy Since The Housing Crisis

POLL: Americans Haven’t Been This Pessimistic About The Economy Since The Housing Crisis

Harold Hutchison on August 8, 2022

Pessimism about the economy has reached its highest point since 2008, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday, with an overwhelming majority of Americans believing the economy is getting worse.

Only 12% of Americans believe the economy is improving, ABC reported, with 69% believing the economy is getting worse and 18% saying things would stay the same. The figures represent Americans’ worst collective outlook on the economy since the middle of the 2008 housing crisis, when 82% of Americans believed the economy was getting worse.

“No meaningful approval rating increase for Joe Biden…69% of Americans still think the economy is getting worse, despite the drop in gas prices.” @RickKlein is back at the Midterm Monitor following a new poll from @ABC News/Ipsos. https://t.co/ZYpRkNQEXb pic.twitter.com/agXFWWSHLU

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 8, 2022

President Joe Biden received low marks for his handling of the economy, with 62% disapproving, and inflation, where he is receiving a 69% disapproval rating. Americans’ approval of Biden’s handling of gas prices increased to 34% from a mark of 27% in a June poll.

The economy contracted by 0.9% in the second quarter of 2022, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, following a 1.4% decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first quarter. Two consecutive quarters of GDP shrinkage is colloquially considered the definition of a recession, according to Investopedia.

Republicans were showing more enthusiasm to vote than Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections, with 75% saying they were at least somewhat enthusiastic compared to 68% of Democrats and 49% of independents, according to the ABC poll of 665 adults, which had a 4.2% margin of error.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.