Economic views tick up, but still look bleak

Skepticism about the state of the economy is slowly dissipating but has not disappeared, according to a new poll released by CNN.

The new poll conducted by SSRS found that 35 percent of the country said things with the economy are going well, an increase from 28 percent the last time the survey was conducted in August.

Another 26 percent said that the economy has started to recover from its problem, a 6-percent increase since July. 

Still, only 26 percent said economic conditions have stabilized and are not getting worse, a fall of just 2 percent from August.

The poll was conducted before the release of Friday’s jobs report that provided additional evidence of a healthy economy. The report found economy added 353,000 jobs in January.

Half of the respondents in the CNN poll said the cost of living and inflation are the main reasons why they think the economy is in a downturn.

Thirteen percent cited President Biden’s policies, while 9 percent said wages and 7 percent mentioned the housing market. 

Only one-fifth of people said they better were better off financially than a year ago; 37 percent said they felt about the same, while 42 percent said they were worse off. 

On immigration, most Americans continue to see the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border as a crisis. Seventy-nine percent said the southern border situation is a crisis, while 21 percent said it was not a crisis.