Report: Effects of Coronavirus Outbreak Lead to Historically Negative Perceptions of the U.S. Economy

The percentage of Americans who rate the national economy as very bad -- and getting worse -- has skyrocketed to the highest levels ever recorded by Civiqs. Daily tracking of Americans’ economic attitudes at the state level mirror the national tracking data.

Economic Attitudes in the United States

The social distancing measures implemented across the United States in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak are having severe economic consequences. To assess the impact of the outbreak, Civiqs tracks three key economic indicators in its daily polling, both nationally and in all 50 states:

• How would you rate the condition of the national economy right now?
• Do you think the nation's economy is getting better or worse?
• Over the last year, has your family's financial situation gotten better, worse, or stayed about the same?

Since the beginning of March, the percentage of Americans who rate the economy as very bad -- and getting worse -- has skyrocketed. Three out of four Americans (73%) currently have a negative view of the national economy, compared to 26% on March 1. Nearly the same proportion of Americans (71%) think the nation’s economy is getting worse. Both of these are the highest numbers Civiqs has ever recorded.

State-Level Evaluations

The states reporting the worst economic evaluations include those most impacted by the coronavirus outbreak: New York, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Washington.

Partisan Responses

Perceptions of the national economy are historically associated with people’s partisan identification. Under President Trump, Republicans have consistently held more favorable economic attitudes than Democrats. Nevertheless, Republicans currently share Democrats’ pessimism. More than half of Republicans -- including a plurality in every state -- say that the economy is getting worse.

On March 1, 71% of Republicans rated the economy very good; that has fallen by 60 percentage points, to 11% as of April 6.

Personal Finances

Negative assessments of the national economy are increasingly reflected in people’s own personal finances. One-quarter of Americans (24%) say that their family’s financial situation has gotten worse over the past year.

Civiqs economic survey results are updated every day and released at civiqs.com, along with data on a wide range of other measures of public opinion on political and social issues.