A record 63% of Americans disapprove of how Donald Trump is handling the economy

A majority of Americans see the U.S. economy headed in the wrong direction and most disapprove of how Donald Trump is handling the economy, according to the latest Economist / YouGov Poll.

57% of Americans say the economy is getting worse, fewer than in recent weeks but still above the norm from the last four years. Only 14% say the economy is getting better.

Americans' views of the economy are associated with their political views, with supporters of the sitting president more likely than opponents to praise the economy. (It's unclear which opinion causes which, or if both are caused by something else.) That's true today: 53% of those who strongly approve of Trump's job performance say the economy is getting better, compared to 22% of those who somewhat approve of Trump, 5% of those who somewhat disapprove, and 1% of those who strongly disapprove.

Americans' views of the economy are also associated with whether they say they are exposed to the booming stock market, a group making up 37% of Americans. Overall, 20% of people who have money invested in the stock market say the economy is getting better, about twice the 11% share of non-investors who say that.

This primarily reflects differences among Independents and Republicans. Democrats who do and don't own stocks have very similar views about the economy, while the difference among Independents between investors and non-investors who say the economy is getting better is greater (15% vs. 6%). Among Republicans, those who own stocks are more likely to be positive than negative about the economy, with 40% saying it's getting better and 23% saying it's getting worse. Non-investing Republicans are evenly split (27% vs. 27%).

Only 29% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of how Trump is handling the economy, while 63% disapprove. That's a net approval of Trump on this issue of -34, his lowest in either term — combining polls that asked about his handling of the economy, and his handling of "jobs and the economy."

Trump's -34 net approval on his handling of the economy is far worse than it was at this point in Trump's first term, when more Americans approved than disapproved of how Trump handled the economy (+8).

The widespread disapproval of how Trump is handling the economy comes amid widespread concern about prices. Majorities of Americans say the prices of cars and housing have gone up a lot over the past year, while almost all Americans say the prices of food and gas have. 76% of Americans say gas prices have gone up a lot over the past year, while another 14% say they've gone up a little. Only 4% say gas prices haven't changed, and 3% say they've gone down.

Americans rating of Trump's overall job performance is slightly better than their rating of his handling of the economy, but still near his all-time worst: 35% strongly or somewhat approve and 60% disapprove, for a net job approval of -25, just above his record low of -26 in each of the past two weeks.

Image: Getty (Samuel Corum / Stringer)

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