Just 17% of Americans Satisfied With How Things are Going in United States

According to a new poll from Gallup.com, an average of just 17% of Americans are happy with the way that things are currently going in the United States.

Gallup has been asking this question since 1979, and 2011 is the second lowest year on record (behind the 15% from 2008).

Gallup asks the question "Are you satisfied with the way things are going in the United States?" throughout the year. 26% of people answered "yes" in May of 2011, shortly after Osama Bin Laden had been killed. Satisfaction fell to as low as 11% in both August and September thanks to the fight over the nation’s debt ceiling and the subsequent credit downgrade from S&P.

In case you were curious, in the most recently conducted poll (Dec 15-18), the "satisfaction level" in the United States was 15%.

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For the sake of comparison, the highest satisfaction level on record is 60%, and this was achieved in 1986, 1998 and 2000. Since 2000 the results have gone straight down, dropping to 46% in 2003, 31% in 2006 and just 15% in 2008.

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Gallup also asked Americans what they thought was the most important problem that is currently facing the United States. Here is a breakdown of the top five responses:

Economy in General - 26%
Unemployment/Jobs - 25%
Dissatisfaction with Government/Politicians - 16%
Federal Budget Deficit - 12%
Ethical/Moral Decline - 6%

Source: Gallup.com - U.S. Satisfaction in 2011 Ranks as Second Lowest Since 1979

Filed under: The Economic Meltdown