by Mark Silva
Many Americans, while cutting back on their holiday spending in the midst of a sour economy, expect an improvement in the economy in the year ahead, a new poll finds.
The percentage of Americans who say the country is off on the wrong track has dropped 20 points from "a dramatic 84 percent high last October,'' according to the findings of the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg News poll.
And the numbers are "influenced by the public's overwhelmingly positive reaction to the pending presidency of Barack Obama,'' according to a poll analysis by Jill Darling.
"Even though the economic news has been relentlessly negative and nine out of 10 in the survey agreed that the economy is doing poorly, there was some hope that it may have hit bottom - fewer than one in five said they think there is worse news to come,'' Darling reports of the Times-Bloomberg survey.
The poll found public support for an Obama-styled plan to combine tax cuts with public works spending and an extension of unemployment funds despite the cost of these initiatives.
Nine in ten of those surveyed say the economy is doing poorly. This is similar to the assessment registered in a Times-Bloomberg poll taken in October.
Yet, when asked to predict what the economy might look like six months from now, four in five said they think it won't degrade any further. This includes a 45 percent plurality who believe it may not be much different next summer. Roughly twice as many say it will get better than those who say it will continue to get worse.
Among the 74 percent of those surveyed who reported positive feelings about the election of President-elect Barack Obama, 27 percent say the nation is on the right track.
Yet, inn this survey, the proportion of those who said they felt secure financially - 56 percent - stands at its lowest point since the Times Poll began asking the question in 1991.
Two-fifths of those surveyed reported having lost either work or hours and about one fifth said their income has shrunk.
Sixteen percent said they'd been fired or laid off from full or part time work, and another 5 percent reported temporary lay-offs.
"The survey found that worry about the economy is causing people to change their spending habits - nearly four in 10 of those who are feeling financially secure said that they are spending less on the holidays this year, and it is not only loss of income, loss of work, and higher expenses that are causing people to cut back on spending in general,'' Darling reports.
Comments
Well I have to say that the public surely was ahead of Washington realizing that the economy was in trouble.
Posted by: bill r. | December 11, 2008 7:59 AM
"Even though the economic news has been relentlessly negative
I almost hate to use the word NEWS anymore. Since the 24/7 cable "news" has come into play it seems more like plain old sensationalism. I remember a short 3 or 4 months ago the sesationalism over the gas prices all but claimed certain doom for us. Every "anchor" used this crisis to predict our downfall and out of all the reports not one (maybe 1) mentioned the obvious bubble from speculators that drove that price up to its eventual bursting. Politics used this sensationalism to sway the public with its fear to the point we were ready to drill in everybodys backyard. Supply and demand was the only reason they could come up with. Well congatulations America, you must now only use 1/3 the gas you used to use.
Posted by: bill r. | December 11, 2008 8:16 AM
How can anyone change their mind on President-Elect Obama yet. He hasn't spent one day in Office. No one can be that good at predicting. Lets wait a little, even while he is putting together his essential people that will surround him things start to look better. But lets wait awhile. What is wrong with modern day politics is we go over "every" word to such detail that the meaning of what someone says is totally twisted out of shape.
To those of you who just critize, step forward in the light and lets see what "You" would do. It is kind of easy to me a Monday Morning Quarterback.
Posted by: Phil B | December 11, 2008 9:55 AM
Bill R,
.
"Well congatulations America, you must now only use 1/3 the gas you used to use."
.
You make this statement because prices have dropped 2/3? You just showed you total ignorance when it comes to economics. When prices rose from $45/barrel to $135/barrel, did that mean that Americans were using three-times as much oil? The realtionship between quantity usage and price is not linear.It can take a small drop in volume to cause a large drop in price - and this is what has happened - along with the value of the dollar.
Posted by: Terry | December 11, 2008 8:20 PM