President Obama Has Highest Job Ratings in Nearly a Year

NEW YORK, May 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- After months of dreariness, the unofficial arrival of summer brings sunshine and thoughts of better times. And this overall attitude seems to hold true not just for the weather and season, but in regards to the state of the country as well. First, President Obama seems to be making some headway with the American public, as almost two in five (38%) give the overall job he is doing positive ratings while 62% give him negative ratings. Last month, one-third of U.S. adults (33%) gave him positive marks while two-thirds (67%) gave him negative ratings. The last time the President was at ratings level this high was back in July of 2013, when 39% of U.S. adults gave him positive ratings.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll® of 2,286 adults surveyed online between May 14 and 19, 2014. (Full results, including data tables and breakdowns by political affiliations, available here)

Feelings on the direction the country is going in are also rising, although not by as much. After three months of the same, with one-third of Americans (34%) saying things in the country are going in the right direction and two-thirds (66%) saying things have gotten off on the wrong track, this month there is a change. Just over one-third (35%) now say things are going in the right direction while just under two-thirds (65%) say things are going off on the wrong track.

Economic issues
Overall, general feelings on broad economic issues are also rising. Over one-third of Americans (35%) give President Obama positive ratings on his handling of the economy and just under two-thirds (65%) give him negative ratings. Last month, one-third (32%) gave him positive ratings while 68% gave him negative marks. As with his overall ratings, this is the highest ratings President Obama has had in almost a year; in June, 2013 35% of U.S. adults gave him positive marks on the economy.

When it comes to overall sentiments regarding the economy, just over one-quarter each say they expect the economy to improve in the coming year (26%) and that they expect it to get worse (27%), while almost half (48%) say it will stay the same. In March, three in ten Americans (31%) said the economy would get worse in the coming year and 24% said it would improve. The theme continues, as this is the lowest number of U.S. adults who said the economy would get worse since last July, when again 27% said it would get worse.

Taking it a little closer to home, almost one-quarter of Americans (24%) say they expect their household's financial condition to be better in the coming six months, while over half (52%) say it will remain the same and less than one-quarter (23%) believe it will be worse. In March, one in five (21%) said their household's financial condition would be better in the next six months while over one-quarter (27%) said it would be worse. Again, the last time the number of people who believed their household's finances would be better was this "high" (at 24%) was in July of last year.

Congress
The one outlier to this trend of higher ratings and attitudes is the United States Congress. Just like last month, more than nine in ten Americans (93%) give Congress negative ratings and only 7% give them positive marks for the overall job they are doing.

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Methodology
This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between May 14 and 19, 2014 among 2,286 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, The Harris Poll avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Poll surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in our panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of The Harris Poll.

The Harris Poll^® #50, May 27, 2014
By Regina A. Corso, VP, The Harris Poll and Public Relations Research

About Nielsen & The Harris Poll
On February 3, 2014, Nielsen acquired Harris Interactive and The Harris Poll.  Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence and mobile measurement. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

Press Contact:
Corporate Communications
The Harris Poll
212-539-9600
[email protected]

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SOURCE The Harris Poll

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