US Voters' View Of Future US Economy Sours In Past 2 Months - Poll

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2019) Pessimism among US voters over the US economy has grown in the past two months, especially among Democratic voters, with nearly half saying the economy is likely to begin heading downhill, a newly published Gallup poll revealed on Tuesday.

"The percentage believing the economy was improving ... rose to 57 percent by November 2018, however, a 10 percentage-point tumble to 47 percent in December was followed by a three-point drop this month to 44 percent," a press release accompanying the poll said. "The corresponding level of pessimism over the past year saw the percentage thinking the economy is getting worse fall as low as 34% in October before rising to the current level of 48 percent.

"

Gallup cited troubling economic developments as responsible for the drop, including a partial Federal government shutdown that began December 22, big declines in stock prices in December and a small uptick in the unemployment rate reported in early January.

Meanwhile, the gap between Republican and Democrat viewpoints also widened from 47 percent in December to 61 percent in January, according to the release. In December, 20% of Republicans and 67% of Democrats predicted a decline, while in January, 74 percent of Democrats said the economy was getting worse while Republican pessimists dropped to 13 percent, the release said.