Gallup says consumer outlook is improved

PRINCETON, N.J., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. consumers indicated a seismic shift in optimism about the economy's future in the first half of the year, researchers at Gallup said Wednesday.

Twenty-seven percent of respondents to Gallup polls, on average, indicated the economy was improving in the first half of 2009, Gallup said. In contrast, for the same six months of 2008, only 13 percent indicated the economy was getting better.

To illustrate the change, the most pessimistic state so far this year is Wyoming, where respondents indicating optimism averaged 18 percent. A year ago, 18 percent would have made Wyoming the country's most optimistic state.

The largest gains in optimism were found in "solidly Democratic" states, Gallup said.

The improved outlook is one spin on the figures. The other spin is that 66 percent of those polled indicated the economy was "getting worse."

Data from a variety of polls indicate "Americans have higher hopes for the future this year compared to last, but do not believe those hopes have been realized as of yet," Gallup said.

The figures are derived from 78,688 telephone interviews conducted in the first half of the year. The poll results have a margin of error of plus and minus one percentage point.