Americans’ trust in the economy has taken a real beating. We’re talking negative 30 in November—the lowest level recorded since July 2024, based on the latest Gallup poll. And honestly? If your gut’s been telling you something’s off with the financial picture, the data’s backing you up.
Economic confidence is sliding, plain and simple. The Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index (ECI) does something useful here—it combines two things everyone’s thinking about anyway: how bad (or good) things are right now, and where we’re all headed next. This index dipped by seven points from negative 23 back in October. That’s not some minor blip. When President Trump returned to the office in January, the number was sitting at negative 19. Throughout his second term, it’s mostly hovered in the negative teens, though we’ve definitely seen it swing around.
Monthly Rollercoaster: Tracking the Confidence Journey
The year has been all over the map. Go back to August and September—we were stuck at negative 20. Not great, sure, but at least it wasn’t nosediving. Then March rolled around with another dip to negative 20, and April made it worse with negative 22.
Here’s where it gets interesting. The following month brought some hope. Numbers started bouncing back, and by June we’d hit negative 14—the best peaking point we’d see all year. Felt like maybe, just maybe, things were turning around. Except they weren’t. July 2024 delivered the worst showing at negative 35. Brutal. This November reading? Second-worst in recent months, reflected in those increasingly worsening moods about the economy’s future state. People aren’t just anxious in some abstract way—they’re doing the math at checkout counters, second-guessing whether they can swing that family trip, lying awake wondering about job security.
Current Conditions: The Reality Check Americans Are Facing
Let’s get into the real numbers. Only 21 percent of adults think current circumstances qualify as excellent or good. That’s down from 24 percent in October. Seems small? It’s not. That slightly smaller figure represents millions of people who’ve changed their tune. Meanwhile, 40 percent now describe conditions as poor—up from 37 percent last month.
When U.S. adults make these kinds of assessments about economic conditions, you’re seeing genuine sentiment shifts. The latest polling happened between Nov. 3 and 25, covering 1,321 adults, with a margin of error at 4 percentage points. This survey wasn’t thrown together—it’s designed to actually capture what regular people think. And what they think isn’t encouraging. The share maintaining any positive outlook? Shrinking. Those feeling squeezed by tough economic conditions? Growing. You see it everywhere—different shopping habits, tighter budgets, conversations about money that didn’t happen a year ago.
Future Outlook: Where Americans See Things Heading
If the present looks rough, buckle up for what People expect next. Just 27 percent of adults think the economy is getting better—down from 31 percent in October. Meanwhile, two-thirds (that’s 68 percent, to be exact) say things are getting worse. That’s not even close. That’s a landslide of pessimism.
People are becoming less optimistic about their prospects, and it’s not hard to see why. This pessimistic view hits home in real ways—will you get that raise? Can your kids actually afford college without drowning in debt? Is retirement still possible, or are you working until 70? The gap between optimists and pessimists keeps stretching wider. Whatever positive economic news trickles down from Washington or Wall Street clearly isn’t reaching kitchen tables across America. At least not yet.
Historical Context: Comparing Peaks and Valleys
Context matters here. The highest level this ECI hit over the past five years was positive 41 in February 2020—back during President Trump’s first term, right before the pandemic blew everything up. Remember that time? Feels like ancient history now. People actually felt confident then.
Flash forward to the other extreme: negative 58 in June 2022, when former President Biden was wrestling with inflation that wouldn’t quit. Today’s negative 30 lands somewhere in the middle of those extremes. We’re not at rock bottom. But we’re definitely not climbing either—we’re sliding. The decline from that June high point shows how much ground we’ve lost. September, October, November—each month brings more worry than relief, more questions than answers.
