Poll: Public's View of the Economy is Improving

By: Stephanie Condon
Topics: Polling

CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.

Americans are more optimistic about the future of the economy than they were last month, according to a new CBS News/ New York Times poll. Forty-one percent of Americans now say the economy is improving, up eight points from April and more than at any time during this recession. Just 15 percent think the economy is getting worse, according to the poll, conducted April 28 - May 2.

There has also been a small bump in President Obama's approval rating on the economy. In a five-point increase from last month, 48 percent now approve of the job he's doing on the economy. That's the highest approval rating on his handling of the economy the president has seen since last November. Forty-seven percent disapprove of his handling of it.

Most Democrats (77 percent) approve of the president's handling the economy, while most Republicans disapprove (86 percent). Independents are divided: 46 percent approve, while 45 percent disapprove. Last month, more independents disapproved than approved of how Mr. Obama was handling the economy.

Read the Complete Poll

This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1079 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone April 28-May 2, 2010. Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

Sample sizes:

Total Respondents: 1079

Total Republicans: 320

Total Democrats: 380

Total Independents: 379

Stephanie Condon
Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com.
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by BigESShi May 12, 2010 6:03 PM EDT: Within the last month there seems to be something in the air that feels different in a good way. I am a very very strong Democrat and I have started to notice that the economy does feel like it is starting to improve. There seems to be some kind of feeling in the economy of relief and that things are not near as tight as it was obviously last summer. But obviously we have a long way to go but at least there is a feeling of somewhat relief for middle class Americans and that we can start to have a small feeling that we can at least start again to start looking for jobs. It also feels that with businesses they are starting to finally pay attention to the President and ever so slightly work more and more with middle class Americans. I have a good feeling that come October, November the middle class will feel and even bigger relief and jobs will be hiring more and more and there will be more of a relief. I think this is just the beginning of feeling a slight relief. Finally finally the economy is moving in the right direction for middle class Americans. Republicans and the rich will obviously be saying the opposite as they finally are getting kicked around and slapped in the face with huge wake up calls and finally see them fall into despair.; Reply to this comment


by tsigili May 4, 2010 12:46 PM EDT: Not anyone I know, is saying that. makes me question the validity of your report, as nothing but political propaganda.; Reply to this comment

by hologram5 May 4, 2010 9:20 AM EDT

Right, the economy is fixed, riiiggghhtt. Tell that to us 20% of America that's STILL unemployed. Tools.

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by eightsigma May 4, 2010 9:30 AM EDT: The economy is not "fixed", but it's getting better. When you go to stop your car, do you release the brakes when the car doesn't stop instantly? Longer term, we'll have to make a choice between working at 3rd-world wages or re-establishing trade barriers.


by eightsigma May 4, 2010 9:32 AM EDT: Doing nothing to re-establish trade barriers signifies your agreement to compete for your job with very cheap foreign labor.

by wfw3536 May 3, 2010 10:25 PM EDT

How dumb does the press think we are when almost 20% of the folks are under or unemployed in this country. People are losing their homes and small businesses are going out of business. Instead of creating jobs and helping small businesses this administration spent over a year trying to figure out how to spend more money on the new health care bill. How sad.

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by pubsrtoast May 4, 2010 8:39 AM EDT: that was a mistake because they spent the money on jobs with no future which will disappear as soon as the money is gone.
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As opposed to Bush whose entire economy was based on the business of war.


by davcor2 May 3, 2010 7:34 PM EDT: Over a month ago I booked my buddies and me into a 4 star hotel on a golf package which in retrospect wasn't that cheap but cheap enough. We picked this last weekend figuring it would be slow. A little surprising that the hotel was packed with enough 20 somethings to fill three huge pools over the weekend. Didn't look like anyone was skimping on food,alcohol and expensive rooms . . . .; Reply to this comment


by obwan222 May 3, 2010 6:48 PM EDT: Oh, I have one...

I predict that Crist after beating the teabagger will caucus with the Dems because no member of the GOP will risk being seen with him.; Reply to this comment


by bradkt1 May 3, 2010 6:16 PM EDT: The economy has already hit bottom. We've had 3 straight quarters of economic growth. Retail sales are up. Companies are slowly hiring, which will mean more consumer spending and decreasing mortgage forfeitures and this trend will increase in the upcoming months...although not quite as quickly as the Democrats hope it will. I believe that it will be enough to blunt any catastrophic losses for incumbents due to the economy. There may be other issues that may take a toll on incumbents, but I don't believe that it is going to be the economy to any great extent...not unless some something changes dramatically for the worse.

I don't see a vast GOP landslide in November after all is said and done. I do think that a number of races that wouldn't ordinarily be competitive will be more competitive than usual and most incumbents who should win easily will squeak by. Some will be defeated. The loss of Ted Kennedy's seat was a major wake-up call for the Democrats who took that seat for granted. They won't make that mistake again in November.

I think that voter turnout will be higher than normal and not just for Republicans. If it isn't, that will be bad news for an number of Democrats because the GOP's base will be motivated to turn out and vote.

I predict moderate GOP gains in both the House and Senate in November right now but I don't see a takeover of both the House and Senate...and maybe not even the Senate. However, there is still plenty of time between now and November for both Democrats and Republicans to do a number of stupid things, so the November results will be too fluid to call until the last week or two...if then.

I think that one of the big wild cards that has the potential to cut both ways is immigration...even more so than health care. Politically speaking, both sides are playing with fire on this issue.; Reply to this comment