Fifty-six percent of Americans said they think 2018 will be at least a good year, while 39 percent said it would be only fair or poor, according to a Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey released on Tuesday.
However, this was a drop in recent optimism for the new year. At the start of last year, 62 percent felt that it would at least be a good year and at the beginning of 2016, there were 60 percent who had a positive outlook.
Other results from the poll show:
- There was a sharp divide among political affiliation. Among Republicans, 81 percent said they think it will at least be a good year, while only 39 percent of Democrats thought so.
- Younger Americans were significantly more optimistic than older ones. Among those younger than 40, 63 percent said they thought 2018 would at least be a good year, while among those 65 years and older, only 52 percent thought the same.
- Forty percent of likely voters said the country is headed in the right direction. Even though this is the highest level of optimism measured since April, 55 percent said the nation is headed down the wrong track.
The survey of 1,000 American adults was conducted on December 27-28. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points, with a 95 percent level of confidence.
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