U.S. Satisfaction Ties 10-Month High
Satisfaction has improved, but still low by long-term standards
by Lydia Saad
PRINCETON, NJ -- Twenty-six percent of Americans are now satisfied with the way things are going in the country, up from 22% in February and 18% in January. Satisfaction has not been this high since last May when it previously hit 26% -- buoyed by the death of Osama bin Laden -- and before that, April 2010 when it was 27%.
Americans' satisfaction with the way things are going in the country has improved slightly almost every month since last August and September when it was at a near-record low of 11%. This marks the longest period of sustained improvement in this measure since the first few months of the Obama administration in 2009. The latest results are based on a March 8-11 Gallup poll, with most of that interviewing conducted after Friday's well-received U.S. jobs report showing 227,000 new jobs were created in February, beating expectations at the same time that the unemployment rate held steady at 8.3%.
At 26%, Americans' satisfaction with the direction of the country is now comparable with where it stood in late 2007, before the Wall Street financial crisis of 2008. It exceeds the all-time low 7% recorded in October 2008, just after Congress passed the Troubled Asset Relief Program legislation to bail out failing financial institutions. However, it still falls well short of the levels seen from 2000 through 2007 and at points in 2009.
The recent increase in Americans' satisfaction with the country mirrors improvement in public confidence in the economy, with the Gallup Economic Confidence Index rising from -25 in late February and early March to -18 last week. Likewise, President Barack Obama's overall job approval rating has moved into the high 40s in recent Gallup Daily tracking.
Economy Steady but Gas Prices Rise as "Most Important Problem"
Despite increases in U.S. satisfaction and economic confidence, Americans' responses to Gallup's "most important problem" question held fairly steady this month. About 3 in 10 Americans (31%) say the economy is the biggest problem facing the country, 26% cite unemployment or jobs, and 9% mention the federal budget deficit or debt -- close to February's levels.
The only notable change, but an important one, is a significant increase in those mentioning gas or fuel prices, rising to 7% in March from 1% in February. This corresponds with a 35-cent increase in average pump prices over the same period to $3.83. However, mentions of gas prices as the nation's top problem remain well below the 25% recorded in 2008 when the price per gallon first topped $4.
More broadly, economic issues continue to dominate Americans' view of the biggest problem facing the country, with a "net" 70% mentioning at least one purely economic issue (such as the economy, jobs, inflation, taxes, or the deficit), contrasted with 46% naming at least one non-economic issue (such as healthcare, education, crime, or immigration).
Economic issues have exceeded non-economic issues on this measure for most of the past four years. By contrast, from January through March 2008, non-economic issues (led mainly by the Iraq war, but at times also by healthcare) prevailed.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/153230/Satisfaction-Ties-Month-High.aspx?ref=image
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