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

Wall Street.
(Image credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

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.

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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.

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Tim O'Donnell

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.