The American people are mostly pessimistic about the current state of the national economy, according to a recent poll. The CNN poll released this week showed that a majority of the public believes that the economy is in poor shape.
The poll found that 51% of the public believes the economy is “still in a downturn and conditions are continuing to worsen.”
On the opposite side, 48% of the public believes that the economy is faring relatively well.
The underlying poll data showed negative ratings for President Joe Biden. The president has been arguing that his policy of “Bidenomics” has improved the economy. The poll found that 37% of the public approves Biden’s job performance regarding the economy. A large majority, 63%, disapproved of his handling of the economy.
Once again, the year-to-year inflation rate may be down to around 3 percent, but that doesn't mean Americans feel like the prices they're paying are "normal" or affordable.https://t.co/HEpg5tyDeh
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) August 3, 2023
Another majority of 70% disapproved of Biden’s performance regarding inflation, with 30% believing the opposite.
Biden also held poor approvals from the public in general polling. Among respondents, only 41% approved of Biden’s job in the White House while 59% disapproved.
While the president has attempted to burnish his economic message prior to the 2024 election, he faces other challenges.
After complimenting the president’s economic job performance, Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) shorted stocks tied to the performance of the Nasdaq Composite. Carper sits on the Senate Finance Committee. The Delaware Democrat called Biden’s role in job creation “real leadership.”
The poor poll results also came as the United States government faced a downgrade in its credit score. This week, Fitch Ratings downgraded the nation’s credit rating, citing contentious debates regarding the nation’s debt limit.
The decline from the AAA rating to AA+ is the second such demotion in American history.
Fitch described a “steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years, including on fiscal and debt matters.” The news was met with disagreement from the administration.
White House press secretary Katrine Jean-Pierre said that the “rating model used by Fitch declined under President Trump and improved under President Biden.” She also blamed what she described as “extremism by Republican officials” played a role in the decision.
