29% Say U.S. is Heading in Right Direction

Twenty-nine (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 May 10.

This is up two points from 27% the week before, the lowest level of optimism since early December. The number who say the country is heading in the right direction had been in the narrow range of 28% to 30% for 17 out of the 21 weeks since then.

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

Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters now think the country is headed down the wrong track, down two points from the week before. Eighty percent (80%) felt the country was on the wrong track in early October.

A year ago, 30% said the country is heading in the right direction; 62% disagreed.

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 The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on May 5-May 10, 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-five percent (85%) of Republicans and 70% of voters not affiliated with either major political party think the country is on the wrong track. Among Democrats, 51% believe the country is heading in the right direction, while 38% think it is headed down the wrong track.
  
 Married voters and those with children in the home are more pessimistic about the country's direction than those who are not married and don't have children living with them.

Sixty-one percent (61%) of black voters think the country is heading in the right direction. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of whites and 54% of other minority voters disagree.
  
 Eighty-five percent (85%) of conservative voters and 59% of moderates believe the country is headed down the wrong track. Fifty-one percent (51%) of liberal voters believe it is heading in the right direction.
  
 Sixty-four percent (64%) of the Political Class believe the country is heading in the right direction, while 73% of Mainstream voters think it is headed down the wrong track.
  
 Democrats have a two-point lead over Republicans on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot.

Just 28% believe most college graduates have the skills to enter the workforce.

Sixty-two percent (62%) look forward to going to work every day.

Half (51%) think the average government employee earns more annually than the average private sector worker.

Thirty-six percent (36%) now expect the health care system to get better under Obamacare, the highest level of optimism since last 2012.

Crosstabs and historical data are available to Platinum Members only.

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