Some 49 percent of consumers still described the economy as "poor" in the third week of July, not much different readings throughout June and early July, the Gallup Poll reported Wednesday.

Lower-income Americans rated current economic conditions as "poor" at a 56 percent rate, the same as in June. At the same time, "poor" ratings rose to 44 percent among higher-income Americans after coming in at 38 percent in June.

Predictions for the future are negative across all income groups, Gallup found. About 87 percent of Americans said economic conditions are "getting worse" in each of the first three weeks of July, approximately the same as the June reading, and slightly higher than the 86 percent in May and 85 percent of April.

Gallup's poll was based on more than 3,000 interviews conducted June 30 to July 6, July 7-13, and July 14-20, 2008. The margin of error is 2 percentage points.