Gallup: US Economic Confidence Index Post-Trump Inauguration Highest Ever Measured

The U.S. Economic Confidence Index conducted by Gallup is the highest ever measured the week after the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump. The index reached +13 for the week ending Jan. 22, the highest ever in Gallup tracking and the weekly average is higher than it has been since the Great Recession.

“Gallup’s U.S. Economic Confidence Index is the average of two components: how Americans rate current economic conditions and whether they feel the economy is improving or getting worse,” Gallup’s Justin McCarthy explains. “The index has a theoretical maximum of +100 if all Americans were to say the economy is doing well and improving, and a theoretical minimum of -100 if all Americans were to say the economy is doing poorly and getting worse.”

The Gallup U.S. Daily survey conducted a random sample of 3,044 adults and found the current conditions and economic outlook components both reached new highs last week.

Thirty-three (33%) percent of Americans rated the economy as “excellent” or “good,” and 21% rated it as “poor.” The economic outlook score was +13, based on 53% of Americans saying economic conditions in the country were “getting better,” and 40% saying they were “getting worse.”

SURVEY METHODS

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Jan. 16-22, 2017, on the Gallup U.S. Daily survey, with a random sample of 3,044 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.

Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 70% cellphone respondents and 30% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.