Two-Thirds of Americans Give Negative Ratings on the Economy

[newsroom]

NEW YORK, June 29 - Since he has taken office, the global economic crisis has been one of the main problems confronting President Obama and his administration. Unfortunately, U.S. adults do not see the president as doing a good job on this issue as two-thirds (68%) give him negative ratings for the overall job he is doing on the economy, while 32% give him positive marks. This is a drop from last month when 36% of Americans gave him positive ratings and 64% gave him negative ones.

Almost all Republicans (95%) and three-quarters of Independents (75%) give the president negative ratings for his handling of the economy. One problem for the White House is that almost two in five Democrats (38%) also give President Obama negative ratings.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,227 adults surveyed online between June 14 and 21, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

Confidence in the White House on the economy

Another challenge for the White House is the steady decline of those who have confidence that the Administration can produce policies to fix the economic crisis. Right after President Obama took office, almost three in five Americans said they were confident the White House could produce policies to solve the economic crisis. By November of 2009, that number had dropped to 44% and in January of this year it was 41%. Now, 39% of U.S. adults say they are confident that the White House and Administration will produce policies to fix the economic crisis and 61% are not confident, including one-third of Americans (34%) who are not at all confident.

There is an education gap over the level of confidence in the White House on this issue. Just one-third of those with a high school education or less (33%) say they are confident compared to over half of those with a post-graduate education (57%).

Trust in political leaders on the economy

While they may not be confident in the White House to produce policies to fix the economic crisis, over half of Americans (52%) trust President Obama to do what is right for the American economy, though this is down from 61% who said this in August of last year. However, the public seems to trust the president more than they do any other political leader. Over half of U.S. adults (58%) say they do not trust the president's economic advisors to do what is right for the American economy; last August, 54% expressed trust in them.

Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress fare even worse. Almost three-quarters of Americans (64%) say they do not trust Democrats in Congress to do what is right for the American economy and 70% do not trust Republicans.