How Americans think the economy is doing

The number of new jobless claims has fallen, but Americans still think the economy is sliding.

Ongoing data from The Economist / YouGov poll shows half (51%) of Americans think the economy is getting worse, a number that has jumped seven points since the beginning of July.

While Republicans are less likely than Democrats to think the economy is getting worse, there has been an 11-point hike among Republicans who think the economy is tanking (16% the week of July 4 vs. 27% this week). The figure among Dems has remained relatively steady (63% the week of July 4 vs. 67% this week).

According to the Department of Labor, 1.2 million Americans filed for initial jobless benefits last week, the lowest number since the onset of COVID-19. It’s a staggering number and reflects a labor market that remains in turmoil.

Further Economist / YouGov data shows 47 percent of the population is very or somewhat worried about losing their job. While Republicans are more likely to be hopeful about the economy getting better, both Democrats (55%) and Republicans (46%) are more in line with one another when it comes to job-loss worry.

See the full toplines and crosstabs from this week’s Yahoo News/YouGov poll

Methodology: The Economist survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,500 U.S. adult citizens interviewed online between August 2 - 4, 2020. This sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, and education based on the American Community Survey, conducted by the US Bureau of the Census, as well as 2016 Presidential vote, registration status, geographic region, and news interest. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of all US citizens. The margin of error is approximately 3.3% for the overall sample.

Image: Getty

Related: US economy tracker