CNN Poll: Public views of the economy are on the rise, but remain dim

The public’s long-held pessimism about the economy shows signs of easing since last year, a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds. But even with the uptick, many Americans’ views of the economy – and the nation as a whole – remain bleak.

Only 35% of Americans say that things in the country today are going well, but that’s an improvement from the 28% who felt positively about the state of affairs last fall. And while just 26% of Americans say they feel the economy is starting to recover from the problems it faced in the past few years, that’s also up from 20% last summer and 17% in December 2022.

Overall, 26% of Americans currently say that economic conditions have stabilized, and 48% say they believe the economy remains in a downturn.

Of those who think the economy is recovering, nearly three-quarters (73%) say President Joe Biden’s economic policies have helped to improve things. An even broader 83% of those who say the economy is continuing to devolve say his policies have instead made things worse.

Views of the nation’s economic trajectory are inflected by partisanship, with the uptick in sentiment coming mainly among Democrats (49% now say the economy is recovering, up 10 percentage points from July) and independents (24%, up 7 points). Just 6% of Republicans say they see a recovery beginning, nearly unchanged from last summer.

But within the Democratic Party, there’s also a significant age divide, with most younger Democrats less likely to see the economy on the upswing. About one-third of…