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24% Say Country is Heading in Right Direction

The number of U.S. voters who feel the country is heading in the right direction remains above 20% for the second week in a row.

Twenty-four percent (24%) of Likely U.S. Voters now say that the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending November 3. This is virtually unchanged from last week but is still well below the high of 43% the week before Election Day one year ago.
 
 Confidence in the country’s direction fell to 13% three weeks ago in the midst of the partial federal government shutdown. It was the lowest finding in five years.

After President Obama assumed office in January 2009, the number of voters who felt the country was headed in the right direction rose 40% in early May of that year. In 2010 and 2011, confidence fell to the narrow range of 14% to 19%, levels similar to those measured in the final months of the George W. Bush administration. Optimism began easing up again in mid-December 2011.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of voters now think the country is headed down the wrong track, also in line with last week but well below the recent high of 80% three weeks ago. From January 2009 until October 2012, belief that the country was on the wrong track ranged from 55% to 80%, but it tracked in the low 50s from just before Election Day until early December.

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on October 28-November 3, 2013. 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.

The Rasmussen Employment Index which measures worker confidence fell another point in October to its lowest point of the year. For the first time in nearly a year, workers aren't reporting that their companies are hiring more people than they're letting go. 

Ninety-one percent (91%) of Republicans and 73% of voters not affiliated with either major party still think the country is on the wrong track. Democrats are almost evenly divided. 

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of voters under 40 think the country’s on the wrong track, but older voters are even more pessimistic. 

Blacks remain much more positive about the country's direction than whites and other minority voters.

Ninety percent (90%) of conservative voters and 65% of moderates think the country is on the wrong track, but just 45% of liberals agree. 

Seventy-five percent (75%) of all voters now say Congress is doing a poor job, the legislative branch's highest negative rating in more than seven years of regular tracking. 

But members of Congress aren’t the only lawmakers voters are criticizing at the moment. The president’s job approval ratings have dropped noticeably since the troubled debut of his signature health care legislation became top news. 

Forty-three percent (43%) now have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of the health care law, while 53% view Obamacare at least somewhat unfavorably

Fewer voters than ever (35%) think U.S. elections are fair. 

Democrats lead Republicans by six on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot

Just 38% of voters say the economy is at least somewhat fair to people who are willing to work hard, a new low. 

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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on October 28-November 3, 2013. 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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