Partisan gap widens as Democrats’ outlook falls sharply
Economic confidence in the United States rebounded in July from a May low, but Americans remain broadly pessimistic, a Gallup poll released Monday indicated.
Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index increased to -31 for July after falling to -45 in May, the pollster said. The July figure is a seven-point improvement over the -38 ECI recorded in June. The index, which Gallup has tracked for decades, reached an all-time high of +56 in January 2000 and bottomed at -72 in October 2008.
A wide partisan gap characterizes the data. Democrats’ ECI fell from +7 in January 2025 to -76 in July, a decline of 83 points, according to Gallup. Over the same period, Republicans’ index rose from -42 to +41, an increase of 83 points. Independents’ index declined from -20 to -38, though July’s reading is an improvement over the -58 ECI recorded among independents in May.
Gallup reported that rising energy prices due to the Iran war are a major factor in the negative outlook, along with high costs of living, inflation, and dissatisfaction with government and Congress. The share of respondents who rate the U.S. economy as “poor” has risen from 33% in February 2025 to 44% in July.
The percentage of Americans who said economic conditions are improving grew from 20% in May to 28% in July, recovering from a drop earlier this year. Gallup reported that the share of respondents who said conditions were improving fell from 33% to 20% between February and May before the July increase.
Still, the share of Americans who believe the economy is getting worse remains more than double the share who see improvement. Gallup found that 67% of respondents in July said the economy is getting worse, up from 57% in January 2025.
The greatest improvement in overall economic confidence was recorded among Republicans and independents, Gallup said.