Gallup: U.S. Economic Confidence Hits New High

PRINCETON, NJ -- "The Gallup Economic Confidence Index broke through a barrier last week, surpassing -17 for the first time in the four-plus years of Gallup Daily tracking in the United States. The index now stands at -16 for the week ending May 20, up from -18 in each of the prior two weeks in May, and from -21 in late April.

"The weekly Gallup Economic Confidence Index is an average of two components of consumers' psychology: Americans' ratings of current economic conditions and their perceptions of whether the economy is getting better or getting worse.  All of last week's gains occurred because of a slight improvement in Americans' outlook for the economy. Forty-three percent now say the economy is getting better and 52% say it is getting worse, for a -9 net economic outlook score. This is up from -13 the week prior.

Americans' net perceptions of current economic conditions are unchanged from the previous week, with 15% describing conditions as "excellent" or "good" and 38% as "poor," for a net economic conditions rating of -23.

Notably, Americans' economic outlook is nearly the most positive Gallup has found since January 2008, and the current conditions component is the highest since September 2008."