Economy Ratings: Less Bad, Not Good

Just 11 percent of Americans rate the economy positively.

ByABC News
December 9, 2008, 9:59 AM

Oct. 6, 2009 — -- Americans' ratings of the economy inched this week to their best in a year – but with consumer confidence running its worst annual average in 23 years of polls, less bad is a far way from good.

Eighty-nine percent of Americans continue to say the economy's in rough shape, 73 percent call it a bad time to spend money and 56 percent say their own finances are hurting, all well above their long-term averages. The ABC News Consumer Comfort Index, based on these gauges, stands at -45 on its scale of +100 to -100, vs. an average of -12 in weekly polling since late 1985.

Click here for PDF with charts and data table.

The CCI is up 4 points in four weeks to its best since late August, and better than its lowest, -54 in January. Its best this year was -42 on May 10; its annual average, -48, is on track for its worst year to date.

The cause is starkly evident in the latest jobs data: unemployment is 9.8 percent, the highest since June 1983; including discouraged workers it's 17 percent, up from 11.2 percent a year ago to the highest in available data to 1994. Regardless of other indicators, one in six out of work could portend a long haul for consumer confidence.

INDEX – Of the three components of the index, positive ratings of the national economy have been the weakest by far, averaging in the single digits since October, well below the long-term average of 38 percent.

Nonetheless there are glimmers: Poor as they are, positive ratings of the economy, at 11 percent, are their best in the last year, and have cracked double digits for three weeks straight, a first since last fall. They are, though, 27 points below average.

Twenty-seven percent say it's a good time to buy things, matching the year's best and above a quarter for three weeks – the best such run since March 2008. Still, positive ratings of the buying climate are 10 points below average, and have been below 30 percent for a record 82 weeks.

Ratings of personal finances, typically the strongest of the three measures, are at 44 percent positive, below a majority for 21 straight weeks and 13 points below their long-term average.