Year over year, optimism in the economy has fallen, according to various measures including in a January New York Times|SurveyMonkey poll.
At this time last year, nearly twice as many people (42 vs. 23 percent) said the economy was better off then than it was the year prior. Today, that 19 percentage point gap has narrowed to just seven, with 38 percent of people saying the economy is better off and 31 percent saying it is worse off.
A majority of Republicans (57 percent) say a recession is unlikely in 2019, making them the only group to have such an optimistic outlook. But, larger majorities of independents (69 percent) and Democrats (82 percent) say a recession is likely. Altogether, 63 percent of people say a recession is likely in the coming year.
Click through all the results in the interactive toplines below.
Read more about our polling methodology here.
Question text:
Which one of the following issues matters MOST to you right now?
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president? Would you say that you and your family are better off or worse off financially than you were a year ago? Now looking ahead - do you think that a year from now you and your family will be better off financially, worse off financially, or just about the same as now? Now turning to business conditions in the country as a whole - do you think that during the next 12 months we'll have good or bad times financially?
Looking ahead, which would you say is more likely to take place in the next five years for the country as a whole: Thinking about the big things people buy for their homes - such as furniture, a stove, a television… Generally speaking, do you think now is a good or bad time for people to buy major household items?
Would you say the national economy as a whole is now better off or worse off than it was a year ago? Do you think President Trump’s economic program is making the economy better, making it worse or having no real effect? As you may know, periods of economic growth are followed by periods of recession. Do you think a recession over the next year is…
