No Bounce for President Obama on Economic Job Ratings

NEW YORK, May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- While his overall job rating may have gone up after the death of Osama Bin Laden, President Obama's economic job rating has not seen the same bounce. Just one-third of Americans (32%) give him positive ratings on the overall job he is doing on the economy while almost seven in ten (68%) give him negative ratings. This is only a slight change from March when 33% gave the President positive marks on the economy and 67% gave him negative ratings.

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These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,184 adults surveyed online between May 9 and 16, 2011 by Harris Interactive.

Much of the reason behind these negative numbers is the overall sense the economy is bad. Three in five Americans (59%) say the economic conditions in their region of the country are bad, one-quarter (23%) say they are neither good nor bad and fewer than one in five (18%) say they are good. While this isn't good, it is better from the height of the economic crisis when in January 2009 almost three-quarters of Americans (72%) said the economic conditions of their region of the country were bad. In terms of the different regions the Midwest seems to be the worst as almost two-thirds (64%) say the conditions in their region are bad.

Jobs

The one thing that everyone is watching closely with this economic recovery is when the job market will also start to rebound. While Americans may still rate the job market as overall bad, this is the "best" the feelings towards employment have been since 2008. Currently, three in five U.S. adults (61%) say the current job market in their region of the nation is bad, while almost one-quarter (23%) say it is neither good nor bad and 16% say it is good. In March, almost two-thirds of Americans (65%) said the job market was bad and 13% said it was good.

Looking ahead for the job market, three in ten U.S. adults (30%) expect the job market to be better over the next six months while one in five (21%) say it will be worse and half (49%) believe it will remain the same. In March, one third of Americans (32%) thought the job market would be better in the next six months and 16% believed it would be worse.

So What?

Jobs and the economy remain to be top concerns for Americans and until these turn around in their mind, nothing else will be able to rise to the top. Attitudes on this issue have been holding steady for a while now but they have been holding steady in a negative light. The hope for the White House is that the economy and job market turns around and they, and President Obama, get the credit for that turnaround in time for next November's election.

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between May 9 to 16, 2011 among 2,184 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

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Q705, 710, 722, 725, 728

The Harris Poll^® #62, May 24, 2011

By Regina A. Corso, SVP, Harris Poll, Public Relations and Youth Research, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

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SOURCE Harris Interactive