Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Wilted Green Shoots

July 8, 2009

From January through May, a growing proportion of Americans said they were hearing a mix of good and bad news about the economy. More recently, however, there has been a steady increase in the share saying that the economic news is mostly bad.

Currently, 41% say they are hearing mostly bad news about the economy, edging up from 37% in June but 10 points higher than in May (31%). Over the past two months, the proportion reporting they are hearing a mix of good and bad news has fallen from 64% to 56%. Very few Americans (3% currently) continue to say they are hearing mostly good news about the economy.

As noted in the weekly News Interest Index report, while many Americans refocused their primary attention on the aftermath of pop star Michael Jackson’s death, the public continued to keep a watch on economic developments last week. About four-in-ten (38%) say they followed reports about the condition of the U.S. economy very closely, similar to the 42% that said the same the week before. Nearly one-in-five (19%) say this was story they followed most closely last week.

Since May, more Americans see news about the economy as mostly bad, but the shift has been particularly notable among political independents.

Currently, 45% of independents say they are hearing mostly bad news about the economy, compared with 39% in June and 32% in May. The share saying the economic news is a mix of good and bad has dropped from 63% in May to 54% now, similar to the 57% in June.

Among Republicans, 48% now say the economic news has been mostly bad; 50% say it has been a mix of good and bad. In May, 41% said the news was mostly bad, while 54% saw it as a mix of good and bad.

Among Democrats, 30% say the economic news has been mostly bad, compared with 21% in May. That month, almost three-quarters of Democrats (74%) saw the economic news as a mix of good and bad. Now that share is 64%, about the same as it was last month (65%).

Local Economic News Also Fairly Glum

More than four-in-ten (44%) say they are hearing mostly bad news about the economy in their area, matching the share that said the same in April. Just less than half (47%) say they are hearing a mix of good and bad economic news, roughly equal to the 49% that said the same in April.

But those perceptions differ, depending on how much people have heard about the financial problems facing states and municipalities grappling with declining tax revenues and increasing demand for services. More than four-in-ten (44%) say they have heard a lot about these problems, while 37% say they have heard a little and 19% say they have heard nothing at all.

Of those that have heard a lot, more than half (52%) say they are hearing mostly bad news about the economy in their area, while 41% say they are hearing a mix of good and bad news. The numbers are reversed for those who have heard only a little: 41% say they are hearing mostly bad news about the economy in their area, while 52% say they are hearing a mix of good and bad economic news.

In one of the states dealing with a budget crisis, California, about six-in-ten residents (58%) say they are hearing mostly bad news about the economy in their area. That is significantly larger than the share that says they are hearing a mix of good and bad news about the local economy (38%). Not surprisingly, just 2% of Californians say they are hearing mostly good news about local economic conditions.

Californians are more likely than the nation as a whole to report having heard about state and local budget problems. About six-in-ten (58%) California residents say they have heard a lot about the state and local budget troubles, while 33% report hearing a little about this. Just 9% say they have heard nothing at all about budget problems in the state. The survey included 123 Californians.

View the topline and survey methodology at people-press.org.