ICYMI: Axios: Americans Are Actually Pretty Happy With Their Finances

On the heels of survey data showing a surge in consumer sentiment at the end of 2023, new polling from Axios today provides the latest evidence that Americans are broadly satisfied with their personal economic situation. Key excerpts from Axios's coverage:

• "63% of Americans rate their current financial situation as being 'good,' including 19% of us who say it's 'very good'"
• "66% think that 2024 will be better than 2023, and 85% of us feel we could change our personal financial situation for the better this year"
• "77% of Americans are happy with where they're living — including renters"

At a moment when "GDP growth is the highest in the developed world, inflation is headed back down to optimal levels, and consumer spending keeps on growing," the report notes that "Americans who believe their community's economy is strong outnumber those who think it's weak. They're right."

Read more below:

Axios: Americans are actually pretty happy with their finances
[Felix Salmon, 1/17/24]

Americans overall have a surprising degree of satisfaction with their economic situation, according to findings from the Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll.

Why it matters: That's in spite of dour views among certain subsets of the country — and in contrast to consumer sentiment polls that remain stubbornly weak, partly because of the lingering effects of 2022's inflation.

• The Axios Vibes poll has found that when asked about their own financial condition, or that of their local community, Americans are characteristically optimistic.

Be smart: It's broadly understood that economic well-being influences electoral outcomes. By the same token, however, political affiliation influences the responses that Republicans, in particular, give when they're asked about the economy.

• So asking about personal finances rather than the broader economy can reveal optimism not seen in consumer-sentiment polls.

Axios Vibe Check: How people feel about their economic prospects:

• What the data show about the overall economy:
• GDP growth is the highest in the developed world, inflation is headed back down to optimal levels, and consumer spending keeps on growing.

By the numbers: 63% of Americans rate their current financial situation as being "good," including 19% of us who say it's "very good."

• Neither number is particularly low: They're both entirely in line with the average result the past 20 times Harris Poll has asked this question.
• The survey's findings were based on a nationally representative sample of 2,120 U.S. adults conducted online between Dec. 15-17, 2023. (More on the methodology.)

Americans' outlooks for the future are also rosy. 66% think that 2024 will be better than 2023, and 85% of us feel we could change our personal financial situation for the better this year.

• That's in line with Wall Street estimates, which have penciled in continued growth in both GDP and real wages for the rest of the year.

Stunning stat: 77% of Americans are happy with where they're living — including renters, who have seen their housing costs surge over the last few years and are far more likely than homeowners to describe their financial situation as poor.

• Indeed, a substantial majority of renters are happy renting, with 63% of them saying they're not interested in homeowning and having a mortgage.
• The reality is similarly upbeat. Asking rents finally started falling rather than rising recently. That, of course, is great news for renters.
• Meanwhile, most mortgages carry very low interest rates of below 4%, and homes have soared in value — so homeowners are sitting pretty too.

More than half of Americans say that if they lost their job tomorrow they'd be OK; that they could find an equivalent or better job quickly; and that "my employers need me more than I need them."

• 63% of respondents describe their job security as "a sure thing."
• That shouldn't be surprising, given that the number of job openings in America is still much higher than at any point before the pandemic.

The bottom line: Americans who believe their community's economy is strong outnumber those who think it's weak. They're right.