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29% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction

Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Likely U.S. Voters think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending March 16.

That’s unchanged from the previous week and down from a recent high of 32% three weeks ago. For most of the last three months, this finding has hovered in the 29% to 30% range.

Early last October during the federal government shutdown, confidence in the country’s course fell to 13%, the lowest finding in five years.

Sixty-two percent (62%) of voters now think the country is headed down the wrong track. That’s down two points from the previous week. Eighty percent (80%) felt the country was on the wrong track in early October.

A year ago, 31% said the country is heading the right direction, and 60% disagreed.

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on March 10-16, 2014. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Fieldwork for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Eighty-nine percent (89%) of Republicans and 67% of voters not affiliated with either major political party think the country is on the wrong track. Among Democrats, 52% believe the country is heading in the right direction, while 36% think it is on the wrong track.

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of black voters think the country is headed in the right direction. Just 23% of whites and 39% of other minority voters agree.

Eighty-six percent (86%) of conservative voters and 57% of moderates believe the country is heading down the wrong track. Most liberals (55%) believe it is headed in the right direction.

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of voters who chose the Democrat on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot think the country is headed in the right direction. Among those who opt for the Republican instead, 93% say the country is on the wrong track.

Republicans have the lead for the first time in over a month on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot.

Overall confidence is down from January’s record high, but 51% are still at least somewhat confident in the stability of the U.S. banking industry.

Fifty-three percent (53%) expect the health care system to get worse under Obamacare, while 30% expect the president’s health care law to make the health care system better.

Eighty-four percent (84%) of American Adults report paying more for groceries today than a year ago, which is the highest finding in over a year.

President Obama ordered the Labor Department last week to revise federal rules to allow more workers to qualify for overtime pay. Forty-one percent (41%) believe increasing the number of people eligible for overtime pay will hurt businesses.

Fifty-two percent (52%) believe the economy is unfair to those who work hard.

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on March 3-9, 2014. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Fieldwork for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

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