Americans’ confidence in the economy improved after Republicans won big in the 2024 election earlier this month, a new survey found.
The Gallup poll, released Tuesday, shows that Americans rank their confidence in the economy as -17, a 9-point improvement since October.
The current reading is the best it’s been since a -12 reading in Aug. 2021, which was when the economy improved after the initial shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic. The worst recent reading was in June 2022, at -58, in reaction to rising inflation and was the worst since the recession in 2008, the pollster noted.
Currently, 26 percent of Americans rate the economy as excellent or good. Roughly 32 percent say it’s fair and 40 percent — the largest change since the previous survey — say it is poor, according to the poll.
The higher economic confidence is stemming from Republicans, the survey said. Independents’ confidence was also boosted over the last month, while Democrats’ trust in the economy has dropped.
As the Democratic Party questions where its messaging went wrong with voters during the latest election and President-elect Trump prepares to return to the White House with the GOP leading both chambers of Congress, many have pointed to the economy as the key.
Voters ranked the economy as their top issue consistently and voted on behalf of Trump’s economic promises at the ballot box.
Gallup noted that when President Biden won in 2020, Democrats favored the economy and Republicans’ confidence dropped. Once Trump takes office and the next Congress session begins, Republicans’ assessments of the economy are expected to surpass Democrats, according to Gallup.
The survey was conducted Nov. 6-20 among 1,001 adults and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
