Perception and Reality

A total of 40% of Americans rate the national economy as excellent, very good, or good and 59% rate it as bad, very bad, or terrible.


National
economy Excellent Very good Good Bad Very bad Terrible Undecided


Mar 2006 9% 13% 18% 28% 12% 19% 1%
Feb 2006 7% 13% 25% 30% 10% 14% 1%
Jan 2006 5% 9% 29% 29% 9% 17% 2%
Dec 2005 6% 19% 22% 26% 11% 14% 2%
Nov 2005 6% 11% 18% 31% 13% 19% 2%
Oct 2005 5% 12% 21% 28% 11% 19% 4%
Sep 2005 4% 10% 29% 20% 20% 13% 4%
Aug 2005 2% 7% 33% 29% 17% 9% 3%
July 2005 1% 4% 43% 37% 9% 5% 1%
Jun 2005 1% 5% 29% 44% 6% 13% 2%
May 2005 1% 2% 31% 45% 6% 13% 2%
Apr 2005 1% 1% 35% 46% 2% 14% 1%
Mar 2005 1% 1% 39% 42% 5% 11% 1%


Among those saying they approve of the way Bush is handling his job, 93% say excellent, very good, or good and 5% say bad, very bad, or terrible. Among those saying they disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job, 95% say bad, very bad, or terrible and 4% say excellent, very good, or good.



By any objective criteria the national economy is doing well and has been for several years now. During the year surveyed, unemployment dropped from a low 5.1% to a lower 4.8%. The Dow rose from 10,400 to 11,200. GDP grew at a respectable 3.5%.

And as a result, the percentage of Americans viewing the national economy is "Good" or "Very Good" rose from 2% to 22%. But at the same time, those seeing the economy as "Very Bad" or "Terrible" rose from 16% to 31%. The latter statistic is startling, and appears to be divorced from any objective reality

What is unknown and unknowable here is whether peoples perceptions of the economy are driving their preceptions of Bush, or whether their preceptions of Bush are driving their preceptions of the economy.