59% of Americans say economy worsening, new survey finds

Nearly 6 in 10 Americans say the economy is getting worse, according to a new Economist/YouGov survey conducted May 9-11 that underscores deepening pessimism as inflation accelerates.

The survey of 1,549 respondents found 59% said the economy is worsening, while 15% said it is improving. Twenty percent said it was about the same, and 6% were unsure. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.

A plurality of respondents, 45%, said they and their family are in roughly the same financial position as a year ago. More than a third said they are worse off financially than a year ago, while 14% said they were better off and 5% were unsure.

The grim sentiment comes as the U.S. annual inflation rate hit 3.8% in April, the highest since May 2023, when it was 4%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices rose 0.6% from March to April. Energy prices rose 3.8% from March to April after rising 10.9% from February to March.

The unemployment rate was 4.3% in April, unchanged from March and one-tenth of a percentage point higher than April 2025, according to the BLS. The rate has hovered between 4% and 4.5% since June 2024.

Of the 1,549 respondents, 1,410 were registered to vote. The survey found 37% said they would vote for the Democratic candidate in their district, 34% for the Republican, 12% were not sure, 14% said they would vote, and 3% said they would vote for another candidate.