On his radio show Tuesday, conservative host Chris Plante suggested it was par for the course that the undercovered good news about the economy would show up on page A-19 of The Washington Post. That's where Post economics columnist Robert Samuelson wrote on Monday about "the quiet comeback of the middle class," based on a poll finding more Americans are telling pollsters that they’ve made it into the middle class.
Gallup gives its respondents five choices for their economic standing: upper class, upper middle, middle, working class, and lower class. In 2006, before the recession, 60 percent of Americans identified themselves as either middle or upper-middle class, while 38 percent picked working-class or lower-class.
This changed after the Wall Street failures and bailouts at the end of 2008. As late as 2015, the country was almost evenly split between those saying they belonged in the middle and upper-middle classes (51 percent) and those placing themselves in the working and lower classes (48 percent).
But Samuelson reported "In its latest poll on class identity, done in June, Gallup found that 62 percent put themselves in the broadly defined middle class, while only 36 percent classified themselves as working class or lower class. The shifts, said Gallup, began in 2016 and demonstrated 'that subjective social class identification has stabilized close to the prevailing pattern observed before 2009.'"
Samuelson said Gallup was not along in measuring optimism:
– Jobs are more plentiful. A Gallup poll in August found that 59 percent of respondents thought it was a “good time to find a quality job.” In 2009 and 2010, this rating hovered around a meager 10 percent.
– More people feel they’re getting ahead. In July, 42 percent of respondents to a Fox News poll reported personal gains, up from only 23 percent in 2008 and beating the previous peak of 41 percent.
– Most workers do not believe their jobs will be outsourced abroad, contrary to much commentary. A Gallup poll this year reported that nine of 10 workers feel unthreatened by outsourcing....
– The University of Michigan Survey of Consumers reports that half of households say their “finances had recently improved, the best reading since 2000,” notes director Richard Curtin.
Samuelson then suggested the good news didn't translate into Trump popularity:
Here’s how a CBS News Poll assessed the effect on Trump in a recent release: “President Donald Trump’s approval rating is unchanged from June and remains at 36 percent, while favorable views of the U.S. economy continue to soar to heights not seen in more than 15 years.... Americans say they’re evaluating him more on culture and values than on how they’re faring financially.”
CBS reported on August 8 that 69 percent described the economy as “good,” compared to only 20 percent as “bad.” CBS This Morning briefly discussed it, but CBS Evening News skipped that result.
Three days later, anchor Anthony Mason reported instead this useless poll result on the solar eclipse: “A CBS News poll finds 68 percent of Americans are excited about it, or at least interested. For what it's worth, that includes 61 percent of Republicans and 71 percent of Democrats. That`s a ten percent excitement gap.”
