With the election approaching, partisan differences in views of economic news have become wider than ever. Despite the recent lackluster jobs report, there has been a modest decline in the percentage of Americans saying news about the economy is mostly bad – with virtually all of the change coming among Democrats.
Just 15% of Democrats say recent economic news is mostly bad, down from 31% a month ago and among the lowest percentages over the last four years. Six-in-ten Republicans (60%) say news about the economy is mostly bad, as do 36% of independents. Opinions among Republicans and independents are largely unchanged from a month ago. The difference between Democratic and Republican opinion on this is 45 points.
Among the public generally, 58% say they are hearing a mix of good and bad news about the economy, while 35% say they are hearing mostly bad news and 6% mostly good news. After climbing upward in recent months, the share of Americans saying the economic news they are hearing is mostly bad fell six points since last month, from 41% to 35%. Read More