Vast Majority Say Economy Isn't Good, as Many Blame Trump

Naming rising costs as the biggest reason, about three-fourths of those polled find the nation's economy to be poor or fair, according to findings by the Pew Research Center. That's 4 percentage points higher than a January 2024 poll found, the Hill reports. The remainder rate conditions as good or excellent. Just more than half of respondents said President Trump's policies have worsened the economy, with 24% crediting him with helping it. On every economic question, Democrats reported more concern than Republicans did.

The results are a major change from a Pew poll in November 2018, nearly two years into Trump's first term, per Mediaite. At that time, 59% considered the economy in excellent or good condition. The reasons respondents gave for their negative views in the poll released Friday were:

• 42%: Rising costs and personal expenses.
• 17%: High inflation.
• 9%:Cost of living.
• 6%: Food and grocery prices.

There's still optimism on the GOP side, though it's fading. Asked if they expect economic conditions to be better in a year, 55% of Republicans said yes, a 10-point drop from April. Just 2% of Democrats agreed, a 2-point drop. Pew's poll involved 3,445 respondents and was conducted Sept. 22-28. The margin of error was reported at 1.9 percentage points.