Americans' outlook on the economy has pretty much reversed in 3 months, poll shows


Polls probably aren't necessary to show that the United States' economic situation is bleak these days, but the numbers can illuminate just how sharply the coronavirus pandemic has altered national sentiment in a short span of time.
A new poll from Quinnipiac University released Wednesday showed that 74 percent of Americans believe the state of the country's economy is either "poor" or "not good." Again, that's not surprising on its own (unless you consider the fact that 23 percent think the situation is "good" or "excellent" to be a head-scratcher.) In a broader context, however, it's startling; just 3 months ago, the same poll showed that 70 percent of Americans were feeling good about the economy, compared to 29 percent who had a negative outlook. That's pretty much a complete reversal.
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted between May 14-18 among 1,323 registered voters. The margin of error is 2.7 percentage points. Read the full results here.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress code
speed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement
speed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
-
Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff display
Speed Read The president was not happy with reports that Amazon would list the added cost from tariffs alongside product prices