Nearly half of Americans now rate the economy as poor, Gallup found in its April poll, as the US-Israel war on Iran pushes fuel prices higher and confidence in the job market and financial markets falls to pandemic-era lows.
The poll of 1,001 adults, conducted April 1–15, found 47% of respondents rating current economic conditions as “poor” — up from 40% in March, a 7-point jump in a single month. Only 21% rated conditions as “excellent” or “good,” and 73% said the economy is getting worse, also up 7 points from March.
Gallup conducted the poll as the US-Israel war on Iran, which began February 28, disrupted Strait of Hormuz shipping and sent global oil prices and domestic fuel costs higher.
Sixty-three percent of Americans said it was a bad time to find a quality job, compared to 33% who said it was a good time — tying the worst reading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Stock market pessimism also deepened: 53% said investing in the stock market would be a bad idea, compared to 43% who said it would be a good idea.
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A Fox News poll conducted April 17–20 found 70% of registered voters saying the economy was getting worse — up 15 points from last April and matching a record high set in 2023. 41% rated the economy poorly, still far above the roughly quarter of voters who said the same a year ago.
When Gallup asked Americans to name the nation’s most important problem, economic concerns dominated: 13% cited the economy in general terms, 11% cited inflation and the high cost of living, and 3% cited gas prices. 8% named the war in the Middle East directly.
Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index has a theoretical range of -100 to +100 — the all-time high was +56 in January 2000; the record low was -72 in October 2008, at the depths of the financial crisis. April’s reading does not yet approach those extremes, but the speed of deterioration — 7 points in a single month — signals that the Iran war’s economic toll is registering rapidly in public opinion.
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