August 17, 2012 12:00 PM
State of the Nation
In the early August Politico/GW/Battleground survey 61% said the country is on the wrong track. 32% said it is on the right track. When compared to early 2009, there is a slight drop in the number saying the country on the wrong track. However, the number saying the country is going in the right direction is essentially the same as it was in 2009.| Right Direction | Wrong Track | ||
| 8/5-8/9 | Pol/GW/BG | 32% | 61% |
| 7/18-7/22 | NBC/WSJ | 32 | 60 |
| 7/11-7/16 | CBS/NYT | 30 | 64 |
| 7/5-7/8 | ABC/WP | 33 | 63 |
| 6/20-6/24/12 | NBC/WSJ | 31 | 61 |
| 5/31-6/3/12 | CBS/NYT | 31 | 62 |
| 5/16-20/12 | NBC/WSJ | 33 | 58 |
| 4/13-17/12 | NBC/WSJ | 33 | 59 |
| 4/13/17/12 | CBS/NYT | 31 | 61 |
| 4/8-12/12 | WP/ABC | 33 | 64 |
| 7/2011 | NBC/WSJ | 25 | 67 |
| 6/2011 | ABC/WP | 32 | 66 |
| 1/2011 | CBS/NYT | 32 | 64 |
| 2/2010 | CBS/NYT | 33 | 62 |
| 1/2010 | NBC/WSJ | 34 | 54 |
| 2/2009 | ABC/WP | 31 | 67 |
The average annual unemployment rate dropped from 9.3% in 2009 to 9% in 2011. The rate has been essentially static during the first seven months of 2012 at 8.3%. The Gallup unemployment/underemployed rate has dropped from 18.7% in January of 2012 to 17.1% in July.
| BLS* | Gallup**` | |
| July | 8.3% | 17.1% |
| June | 8.2% | 17.3% |
| May | 8.2% | 18.0% |
| April | 8.1% | 18.2% |
| March | 8.2% | 18.0% |
| February | 8.3% | 19.1% |
| January | 8.3% | 18.7% |
| Average 2011 | 9.0% | 18.7% |
| Average 2010 | 9.6% | 18.8% |
| Averate 2009 | 9.3% |
*Seasonally adjusted rate/Bureau of Labor Statistics
**Gallup combines an unadjusted unemployed rate with those who are working part-time but want full-time employment.
26% of Americans are now satisfied with the way things are going in the United States. This is up from a low of 11% in mid-2011. The high point of this marker for the Obama administration was about two-thirds of the way through 2009. As a reference, the high point in the last 33 years was 71% in 1999.
After 5 months of improvement, the economic confidence of Americans has fallen over the last 2 months to the July level of -26. Yet, it is still better by almost 2 to 1 than it was a year ago. [Gallup]
28% of Americans say that “the most important thing” that can be done to improve the U.S. economy is to create more and better jobs. Another 9% list less outsourcing of jobs and bringing jobs home as the most important thing that can be done.
* 70% believe that people’s values in America have been getting worse in the past ten years
* 46% think values will get weaker over the next ten years
* 36% think that American values are stronger than the rest of the world, while 33% say they are weaker
* 66% say the U.S. economy is on the wrong track
* 51% and 52% say the American economic system has been unfair to middle-class Americans and working-class Americans respectively.
* 79% believe that executives at Wall Street banks have a different set of values than they do
* 89% believe that the values of executives at large Wall Street banks are worse than fundamental American values
* 71% believe that America’s elected officials mainly reflect the values of the wealthy
* 77% believe that people are generally motivated by self interest.
[The Atlantic/Aspen Institute American Values Survey – 6/12]
When asked – open ended – what they think is the most important problem facing the country today, 54% said the “economy in general or unemployment/ jobs.” The next highest noted concern was an expression by 15% of a “dissatisfaction with government.” [Gallup]
