AP-NORC poll: Politics drive divergent views of U.S. economy

WASHINGTON — Americans’ outlook on the national economy has improved somewhat from its lowest points during the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, but a new poll suggests Democrats and Republicans are living in alternate economic realities amid the sharpest recession in the nation’s history.

Eighty-five percent of Democrats call economic conditions “poor,” while 65% of Republicans describe them as “good” in a new survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

This divide reflects the deep polarization ahead of the 2020 presidential election, as well as a series of indicators that point toward a weakened but recovering U.S. economy.

“The economy is in terrible shape and improving rapidly,” said Harvard University professor Jason Furman, formerly the top economist in the Obama White House. “Depending on which of the two halves you’re looking at, you’re going to have a very different interpretation of where we are.”

Americans can see reasons for hope as well as doubt. They face a host of uncertainties about the path of COVID-19, the fate of small businesses with fewer customers and the status of additional government aid.

Overall, 63% of the country says the economy is in poor shape, down somewhat from the 70% who felt that way in May. The change was driven by increasingly optimistic Republicans, only 43% of whom described the economy as good a month ago. Two-thirds of Republicans, but just 29% of Democrats, expect improvement over the next year.

The survey finds that African Americans and Hispanics are more likely than white Americans to say someone in their household has lost a job or other income.