Most U.S. adults (56%) also say the economy is “getting worse,” up 9 points since March.
On the campaign trail last year, then candidate Donald Trump repeatedly vowed to “bring prices down” and “end inflation” starting “on day one” of his presidency.
Trump went on to trounce then-Vice President Kamala Harris among voters who said the economy was their top issue, winning back the White House as a result.
But one year later, a new Yahoo/YouGov poll shows that 60% of Americans now disapprove of how Trump is handling the economy.
Only 33% approve.
That is the president’s most negative economic approval rating to date. To put it in perspective, Trump’s average approval rating on the economy was 49% in the middle of 2020 — at the height of the COVID-19 crash. His average disapproval rating was 45%.
The new survey of 1,770 U.S. adults was conducted from Oct. 23 to 27, in the midst of the government shutdown and immediately following Trump’s decision to end trade talks and raise tariffs on Canada. On Wednesday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the shutdown could cost the U.S. economy as much as $14 billion, and the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the second time this year amid growing jitters about jobs.
Americans are feeling increasingly worried as well. A clear majority (56%) now think the U.S. economy is getting worse, up 9 points since March. Just 20% of Americans think the economy is getting better.
Likewise, more than three-quarters of Americans (76%) say grocery prices are rising, up 10 points since March. Only 7% of Americans think grocery prices are falling.
This isn’t a purely partisan trend. Over the last month, the perception that the economy is getting worse increased by 7 points among Democrats (from 81% to 88%), by 5 points among independents (from 58% to 63%) and by 4 points among Republicans (from 16% to 20%).
Other economic indicators remain overwhelmingly negative:
- Just 24% of Americans rate the state of the economy as excellent or good; 73% rate it as fair or poor.
- Just 31% of Americans rate their own personal economic situation as excellent or good; 66% rate it as fair or poor.
- 81% of Americans say they’re paying more for the same goods and services than they were paying a few years ago; 5% say they’re paying less and 10% say they’re paying about the same.
- 60% of Americans say they are more anxious about finances than they were a year ago; 10% say they are less anxious.
Overall, one-third of Americans (34%) now say the U.S. economy is in a recession, up 6 points since March. (According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, a recession is defined as a “significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months.” The last U.S. recession lasted from February 2020 to April 2020.) Another 22% say the economy is “heading for a recession.”
So far, the consensus among Americans is that Trump’s tariffs — which he has raised, lowered, paused and resumed multiple times — haven’t been helping.
A majority of Americans (56%) now say the recent tariffs are having “more of a negative effect” on the U.S. economy in the short term. That number has climbed 5 points since July. Just 19% of Americans say the tariffs are having “more of a positive effect.”
In the long term, nearly half of Americans (49%) predict the tariffs will have more of a negative effect — another 5-point increase since July. About half as many (26%) believe the long-term effect will be positive.
Trump’s approval rating on “trade and tariffs” is identical to his rating on the economy: 33% approve, 60% disapprove.
(News from yahoo)
