Survey Shows Wide Partisan Gap Post-Trump in Consumer Sentiment
Republicans expect the U.S. economy to boom and Democrats see a bust after Donald Trump’s election as president, a sharp reversal from sentiment a few months before the vote, according to a University of Michigan consumer survey.
An index of expectations for the economy among Republicans surged to 122.6 from 68.4, while Democrats’ outlook plummeted to 64.5 from 92.6, based on 358 respondents who were interviewed in June and July and again in December and January, the university said in a report Jan 20. Among independents, the gauge rose to 90.6 from 69.6.
The figures add to data showing deep partisan divisions in Americans’ outlook for the Trump era, as the billionaire developer takes the oath of office in Washington. Before the election, Republicans expected weak income growth and rising unemployment; they’re now more optimistic. Democrats, meanwhile, have become the pessimists.
“Once the election was decided, each side immediately revised their economic expectations, and revised them to align with their strongly held partisan views on prospects for the economy,” Richard Curtin, director of the consumer survey, said in a statement.
For current economic conditions, the gauge rose slightly among Democrats to 116.5 after the election, from 115 in June and July. Republicans, though, saw the current situation as much better than before: their gauge rose to 122.3 from 100.4.
The headline consumer sentiment index showed Republicans at 122.5 after 81 in June and July, while for Democrats, the index fell to 84.8 from 101.3.
