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BUSINESS

Government Employees Remain Most Confident About Economy

From 2005 to early 2009, entrepreneurs were more confident about the economy than government employees, private sector employees, retirees and other Americans. However, since March of last year, government workers have been the most confident (or, perhaps, the least pessimistic).

In 2010, the average Consumer Index finding for those in government is 88.2, seven points higher than the confidence level among entrepreneurs.

This confirms a trend first noted a year ago in an article highlighting the gap between two economies—the public sector and the private sector.

In March 2009, confidence among all employee groups fell to the lowest levels ever recorded in the nine-year history of the Rasmussen Consumer Index. All employment categories showed at least a 25-point month-over-month drop across the board. At that time, economic sentiment dipped to a low of 63.0 for private company employees and a high of 73.4 for those in government. Entrepreneurs felt the impact of the declining economy most drastically with a 39-point drop to 68.8.

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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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