On August 5, 2014 Gallup released the poll results titled “In U.S., Economic Confidence Dips Two Points in July.” The subtitle is “Americans’ economic outlook worsens.”
Notable excerpts include:
Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index fell two points in July to -17, which is the lowest index reading since March.
also:
Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index is the average of two components, Americans’ ratings of current economic conditions in the nation, and their perceptions of whether the economy is getting better or getting worse. In July, 20% of Americans said current economic conditions were “excellent” or “good” while 34% said they were “poor,” resulting in a -14 net current conditions score. Americans’ views of current economic conditions have been unchanged since April.
Meanwhile, 38% of Americans last month said the economy is getting better while 57% said it is getting worse. This results in a net economic outlook score of -19, the lowest score since last December. Thus, the drop in overall U.S. economic confidence in July was the result of souring views of the economy’s direction rather than changing assessments of current conditions.
Here is an accompanying chart of the two components (Sub-Indexes) of the Gallup Economic Confidence Index, discussed above:
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The Special Note summarizes my overall thoughts about our economic situation
SPX at 1915.53 as this post is written