October 7, 2016 12:00 PM
State of the Nation
28% of Americans say the country is headed in the right direction while 66% say it is on the wrong track. (Bloomberg, 9/24)[Keep mind Amy Walter’s point in her September 1st column that there are variety of reason why folks may think the country is on the wrong track when it comes to the direction of the country.]
Let’s take a look at the “official” unemployment numbers.
The official BLS seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for September 2016 is 5.0%.
If one takes into account the total number of unemployed + those marginally attached to the labor force + those working part-time who want full-time work, the current rate is 9.7%. [BLS data is based on those 16 years of age and older.]
In the first week of October, Gallup found an unadjusted unemployment rate of 5.4%. It also found an under-employment rate of 13.0% (unemployed + those working part-time but wanting full-time). [This is based on those 18 years of age and older.]
Real median household income increased by 5.2% between 2014 and 2015. However, real median household income is still 1.6% lower than it was in 2007, the year before the most recent recession.
The official poverty rate in 2015 was 13.5%, down from 14.7% in 2014.
However, there is a significant gender difference when it comes to the poverty rates. The poverty rate for women age 18-64 is 14.2% while for men it is 10.5%. [U.S. Census]
Will wonders never cease? A number of major brands have informed their advertising agencies that failure to diversity their employee bases may cause the companies to take their business elsewhere. Most recently this group includes, Verizon, General Mills and HP, Inc. [NYT, 10/1]
3% of American adults own 133 million of the estimated 265 million guns in the country. [FiveThirtyEight]
54% of Americans say that immigration helps the United States more than it hurts. 35% believe immigration hurts more than it helps.[NBC/WSJ, 9/16]
64% say that immigrants from other countries strengthen American society. 24% say they weaken society. [ABC/WP, 9/16]
62% believe that illegal immigrants who are living in the U.S. should be allowed to stay and eventually apply for citizenship. An additional 12% think they should be allowed to stay in the U.S. legally but not be able to apply for citizenship. [NYT/CBS, 9/16]
On three issues in which religious liberty comes into conflict with the principle of non-discrimination, on only one does a majority of the public come down on the side of non-discrimination.
67% believe that if an employer provides health insurance plans for its employees the coverage must include birth control. 30% should be able to include it on religious grounds.
51% believe that transgender people should be able to use the restrooms with which they currently identify. 46% believe that transgender people should be required to use the public restrooms of the gender into which they were born.
On the question of whether a business that provides wedding services such as catering and flowers must provide those services to same-sex couples, 48% believe that businesses should be able to refuse those services to same-sex couples while 49% say businesses should be required to provide such services to same-sex couples.[Pew Research Center, 9/28/16]
45% of us think the country is less great than in the past with 37% expressing a contrary view. 80% of registered voters who support Trump say the country is less great. This view is shared by only 20% of Clinton supporters.
64% believe that people like themselves get fair treatment in this country while 34% say they do not get fair treatment.
68% say that people like themselves have little or no influence over what the federal government does. 34% take the opposite view. [ABC/WP, 9/16]
In September 2016, Gallup found that 32% of Americans have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the mass media. This is the lowest trust factor that Gallup has found since it started asking the question in 1997 and represents a drop of 8% points since last year.
There is a clear partisan distinction on how folks assess the mass media. 51% of Democrats have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media but only 14% of Republicans share that view. Only 30% of independents are found to be trusting of the media.
26% of people who are 18-49 years of age have a great deal/fair amount of trust in the media, a drop of 10% points in the last year.
Some communities have lost confidence in the performance of their police departments.
77% have at least some confidence in the police department in their community. (36% have a lot of confidence.)
42% of whites have a lot of confidence in the police.
14% of blacks have a lot of confidence in the police.
The number of people who say that police in their community do an excellent job when it comes to:
Protecting people from crime
Whites 78%
Blacks 48%
Using the right amount of force in each situation
Whites 75%
Blacks 33%
Treating racial and ethnic groups equally
Whites 75%
Blacks 35%
Holding officers accountable when misconduct occurs
Whites 70%
Blacks 31%
The number of people saying that protests of fatal police-black encounters are motivated by:
• Long-standing bias against the police 79% (41% a great deal, 38% some)
• A genuine desire to hold officers accountable for their actions 65% (33% a great deal, 33% some)
[Pew Research, 9/29/16]
