Tracking Trump - Direction of the Country for November 17th:
Bottom Line: For years, despite generally favorable approval ratings for President Obama, we'd collectively been unhappy with the overall direction of our country. In the early months of the Trump Presidency we'd seen a bit of a shift with a less popular President but a bit more optimistic country generally. At one point earlier this year we were nearly 20% more optimistic than under the Obama administration but that waned a few months back. Here's the latest.
Where we stood on Inauguration Day:
Right Direction: 30%
Wrong Track: 59%
Net: -29%
Last week:
Right Direction: 31%
Wrong Track: 61%
Net: -30%
And today:
Right Direction: 30%
Wrong Track: 62%
Net: -32%
Change: -3% since Inauguration Day & -2% from a week ago
It's interesting that a year after the election we're basically right where we were before in our view of things. The same number of people who thought we were heading the right way at the end of the Obama era, think we are today. This continues to be a case where perception and reality aren't equitable however. The economy is substantially improved - which historically has been the most important consideration for most people. As a reminder we now have:
Economic growth over 3%
Base unemployment rate is the lowest in nearly 17 years
Real unemployment is the best in eleven years
Corporate profits are at all-time highs
The stock market is at all-time highs amid a record run since last November's election
However, it's understandable that many are still frustrated. Our top two agenda items coming into 2017 where healthcare and tax reform. We're still waiting for them to occur and that's doubtless part of our frustration with our country's direction.