Optimism for Economy Crushed as Democrats Push Impeachment

Optimism about the prospects for the U.S. economy fell sharply as Democrat stepped up their push to impeach President Donald Trump.

The share of Americans expecting economic conditions to improve fell seven points to 23 percent, the lowest level in 3 years, according to CNBC’s quarterly All-American poll.

Thirty-two percent said they think the economy will get worse over the next 12-months, the first time of Trump’s presidency that pessimism out-polled optimism in the CNBC survey.

The decline in optimism was sharpest among Republicans. Only 43 percent of Republicans said they expect the economy to improve, down 13 points from the prior quarter. Democrats have been dominated by pessimism about our economic process since the election even as unemployment continued to fall and economic growth exceeded expectations. Optimism among Democrats fell 5 points to 8 percent. Optimism among independents declined just 1 point to 19 percent.

This partisan reaction suggests that impeachment is playing a role in stifling confidence.

“The poll was conducted amid intense discussion of impeachment over Ukraine,” CNBC’s Steve Liesman reported. “A separate question found that 56 percent of Republicans are concerned about the negative effects of impeachment on the economy compared with just 26 percent of Democrats.”

While the outlook has turned dire, views on the current state of the economy are much less So. Forty-eight percent of the public say the economy is excellent or good, down from 51 percent in May.  But that still meant that this number slipped into net negative because those who rate the economy only fair or poor rose to 49 percent, up a one-point from May.