An overwhelming majority of Americans think the country is not doing well, according to a new poll.
According to a CNN/SSRS poll of more than 1400 adults, conducted between June 13-July 13, just over 2 in 10 Americans, 21%, think things in the country are going well. An even smaller number of Americans, just 18%, said that economic conditions were good. Moreover, most Americans disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy, and think that Biden has been focused on all the wrong issues.
Asked “how well are things going in the country today?,” just 21% of poll respondents said that things were going well, compared to 79% who said things were going badly. Just 1% of Americans said things were going “very well”; 20% said things were going “fairly well.” On the opposite end of the spectrum, 34% said things were going “very badly,” while 44% said they were going “pretty badly.”
Americans were even more negative about the state of the economy. Just 18% said the current economic conditions in the country were “good”; only about 1% of respondents said the economy was “very good,” while about 16% said it was “somewhat good.” Meanwhile, a massive 82% of Americans said the economy was “poor”; respondents were evenly split, 41%-41%, between “somewhat poor” and “very poor.” On top of that, when asked “do you think the economy is in a recession, or not,” nearly two thirds of Americans, 64%, responded “yes.” Just 35% responded “no.”
When asked what the biggest economic issue for their family was, fully three-quarters of Americans said it was expenses and the cost of living. Inflation and rising costs, specifically, accounted for 38% of Americans’ concerns, while 29% said gas and energy prices were the biggest issue. Another 18% said the cost of food was their biggest problem. The general issues of “personal financial concerns” and “income/employment” were the biggest concern for 12% and 10% of Americans, respectively. No other issue, in general or specific, was cited by more than 10% of respondents.
President Joe Biden’s approval ratings were also dragged down by economic issues, the poll found. Biden’s overall approval rating stood at just 38%, while 62% disapproved. Just 12% approved strongly of Biden; 26% said they approved moderately. Meanwhile, 43% disapproved strongly, while 19% disapproved moderately. Biden’s ratings on economic issues even worse: on the economy overall, Biden had just a 30% approval rating, with 69% disapproval; on the specific issue of inflation, Biden scored a dismal 25% approval, with 74% disapproval.
Asked whether they thought Biden has had the right priorities or not, just 31% of Americans said Biden “has had the right priorities,” while 68% said Biden “hasn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems.”
In terms of personal approval ratings, just 36% of Americans had a favorable opinion of Biden, while 54% had an unfavorable opinion. Even fewer respondents had a favorable opinion of Vice President Kamala Harris: just 32% had a favorable opinion of Harris, while 49% had an unfavorable opinion. Even First Lady Jill Biden earned just a 34% favorability rating, but her ratings were still a net positive: just 29% of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of her, while 28% had no opinion.
The CNN poll comes after a CNBC poll released Monday found similar approval ratings for Biden on the economy. Just 30% of respondents in CNBC’s All-America Economic Survey approved of Biden’s handling of the economy, as the Daily Wire reported. CNN’s data analyst Harry Enten remarked last week that Biden’s approval ratings were in the doldrums because “inflation is eating his presidency alive.”