Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Coverage of the financial meltdown dropped to its lowest level in months last week as Somali pirates, a trip to Turkey, a deadly earthquake and a defiant missile launch dominated the news agenda. Is it a trend or an anomaly?
For the fourth week in a row, a different component of the faltering economy drove coverage of a crisis now overshadowing every other news event. And the White House and a radio host locked horns in what may actually be a symbiotic relationship.
Summary of Findings Americans continue to follow news about the economic crisis closely because they feel it is directly relevant to their lives. More than eight-in-ten (85%) say even when the economic news is bad they feel better knowing what’s going on, while 77% say they need to stay on top of economic news because […]
National Economic Ratings The public continues to offer a bleak assessment of current national economic conditions. Nearly seven-in-ten (68%) rate the economy as poor while an additional 25% say the economy is in only fair shape. Just 6% call economic conditions good and fewer than 1% (3 of 1,308 adults interviewed) say conditions are excellent. […]
Overview For the public, the continuing financial crisis has been overtaken by a jobs crisis. The proportion of Americans citing jobs or unemployment as the nation’s most important economic problem has more than quadrupled – from 10% to 42% – since early October and job worries now far surpass concerns over the financial crisis. People’s […]
As the White House moved on a number of economic fronts last week, the financial meltdown and Obama’s big speech accounted for nearly half the news agenda. And the media distilled an unmistakable message about the direction of the new administration.
Bloggers expressed strong opinions on two topics last week—President Obama and Tropicana orange juice. Evaluations of Obama broke down on ideological grounds while the uproar over Tropicana’s change in packaging was about brand loyalty.
Americans remain extremely downbeat about national economic conditions. More than nine-in-ten (92%) say the economy is in only fair (33%) or poor (59%) shape, while just 7% offer positive views. Assessments of the national economy have been stable over the past two months and are somewhat more negative than they were during the recession of […]