Economic confidence among Americans declined in August, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports Economic Index, as fewer adults gave the economy positive marks and a majority said they expect conditions to worsen.
The index fell to 104.2 this month, down more than two points from July. The measure remains below the four-year high of 115.9 recorded in July 2025.
According to Rasmussen, 35% of American adults currently rate the economy as “excellent” or “good,” a five-point decline from July. Meanwhile, 36% describe the economy as poor, up four percentage points from last month.
Expectations for the months ahead also weakened. Twenty-four percent of respondents said they believe the economy is getting better, down three points from July, while 54% expect economic conditions to worsen. Another 19% expect the economy to remain about the same.
Views of the economy continue to differ sharply by political affiliation. Rasmussen found that 53% of Republicans rate the economy as good or excellent, compared with 28% of Democrats and 26% of adults who are not affiliated with either major party.
Those numbers represent a significant reversal from the period before the 2024 presidential election. In October 2024, 20% of Republicans held a positive view of the economy, compared with 59% of Democrats. Republican confidence is now 33 percentage points higher than it was then, while Democratic confidence has fallen by 31 points.
Rasmussen’s Economic Index has experienced substantial swings over the past several years. It reached 147.8 in January 2020 before falling sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated business shutdowns. The index recovered to 126.4 by November 2020 before subsequently declining, eventually reaching a low of 78.6 in July 2022.
The decline in economic confidence comes as Rasmussen’s separate measure of the country’s overall direction also weakened. Thirty-four percent of respondents said the United States is headed in the right direction, down four percentage points from July.
Despite the less optimistic economic outlook, Rasmussen’s Spending Index increased in August to 110.9, more than one point higher than July and more than 14 points above its February 2021 low.
Thirty-five percent of Americans said they expect to spend more during the coming month, unchanged from July. Nineteen percent expect to spend less, while 43% anticipate spending about the same amount.
Forty-nine percent (49%) say they expect to have money left over this month after all debts are paid, down one from last month, but 37% say they won’t. Fourteen percent (14%) are not sure.
A majority of Americans rate their own lives positively, and view young adulthood as the best years of life.
A majority of U.S. workers think they will be making more money next year, and don’t expect that they’ll have to change jobs to do it.
The Rasmussen Reports survey of 1,500 American adults was conducted August 5, 2026. The survey has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Field work was conducted by Pulse Opinion Research.
