The Rasmussen Employment Index rose for the second straight month in January. At 66.3, the monthly measure of workplace confidence is up two points from the month before and up five points from a year ago.
Consumer confidence in January rose for the second straight month and has almost reached the levels enjoyed before the financial industry meltdown in September 2008.
Fifty-three percent (53%) of likely voters now believe that decreasing the level of government spending will help the U.S. economy. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 24% of voters think that cutting federal spending will hurt the economy. Eleven percent (11%) say it will have no impact, and another 11% aren’t sure.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 66% of Americans believe leaving their job will be their choice. That’s up a point since November and up five points from a year ago. Just 16% say their employer will decide when it’s time for them to go.
Americans are evenly divided over whether Ben Bernanke should stay or go, as the Senate moves closer to a confirmation vote on the embattled chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 59% of voters nationwide believe cutting taxes is better than increasing government spending as a job-creation tool.
Most Americans favor the new effort by President Obama to recover the bailout money by taxing the nation’s largest banks. However, most only want the banks who received bailouts to pay the tax and think that other bailed-out institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also should be taxed.
Voters are a little more concerned this month that the government will not do enough to help fix the economy and a bit more confident that last year's $787-billion stimulus plan has actually been a benefit.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 29% believe it’s more likely that GM will become profitable again rather than need additional bailouts from the federal government. Forty-five percent (45%) say the automaker is more likely to need more bailouts. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are not sure.
Twenty-six percent (26%) of Americans say they are at least somewhat likely to buy or lease a car in the next year. Just 12% say they are very likely to do so.
Americans continue to show little short- or long-term confidence in the housing market, and belief in a family home as an investment has declined to its lowest point yet.
Looking back, most U.S. voters still don't approve of the government bailouts of the financial industry and troubled automakers General Motors and Chrysler.
Americans are far from optimistic about the economy, but they have mixed emotions about how low it can go.
The Rasmussen Employment Index rose more than two points in December after falling four points the month before.
The Discover U.S. Spending Monitor fell 3.3 points in December to 83.0 (based out of 100). The decline was primarily driven by a big decrease in post- holiday spending intentions from consumers. While the decrease in spending intentions was anticipated, consumers showed little improvement in economic confidence in December and they grew slightly more pessimistic about their finances. These contributing factors leave the Monitor's index standing at a nine-month low.
Americans start the new year with a bleak assessment of the housing market’s prospects for recovery.
Hope for a stronger economy has declined in recent months, with pessimism up sharply from a year ago.
The New York Times reports that “the Obama administration’s $75 billion program to protect homeowners from foreclosure has been widely pronounced a disappointment, and some economists and real estate experts now contend it has done more harm than good.”
Fifty percent (50%) of Americans believe the country will still be in recession at the end of 2010, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Economic confidence among America's small business owners was steady in December as fewer of them believed the U.S. economy was getting worse compared to November, and more saw conditions for their own businesses getting better in the next six months, according to the Discover Small Business Watch. The Watch index improved slightly in December to 77.0 from 76.5 in November.
