This week’s Economist/YouGov poll covers…
- Rising concern about the economy
- Whether Americans say Donald Trump or Joe Biden is more responsible for the current economy
- Whether more people expect AI to help or hurt economic output
- How many people think Trump is too old to be president
- Whether Trump's marks for handling Epstein investigations have improved
The economy
- Only one-quarter (26%) of Americans say the U.S. economy is in good or excellent shape; 32% say the U.S. economy is fair, and 39% say it's poor
- Since two months ago, the share of Americans who say the economy is poor has risen from 28% to 39%, while the share who say it's fair has fallen from 39% to 32% and the share who say it's good has fallen from 26% to 22%
- The 39% of Americans who say the economy is in a poor state is lower than the 40% to 45% of Americans who said this throughout the first half of 2024, and below the peak — since the question was first asked in May 2021 — of 54% in July 2022
- Americans are divided on how the U.S. economy is doing in comparison to other countries in the world: 35% think it is doing much or somewhat better, 34% think it is doing worse, and 15% think it is doing about the same
- These views are split by party. Only 14% of Democrats say the U.S. economy is doing better than other countries and 59% say it is doing worse, while a majority of Republicans (63%) think it is doing better than other countries and only 10% say it is doing worse
- Americans are most likely to say they're hearing mostly bad news about the economy: 50% say they're hearing mostly negative news stories, compared to 10% who are hearing mostly positive news and 23% who are hearing an equal balance of positive and negative news
- Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to say they're hearing mostly positive news about the economy (21% vs. 3%), but even among Republicans, more (27%) say they're hearing mostly negative news
- Americans are about as likely to say that their income has increased in the past 12 months as they are to say it has decreased (22% vs. 23%).
- Americans with a college degree are more likely to say they've experienced an increase in their income than are those without a college degree (29% vs. 19%)
- Men are more likely than women to say their income has increased (26% vs. 19%)
- Black Americans are more likely than white or Hispanic Americans to say their income has decreased over the past 12 months (33% vs. 22% vs. 21%)
- 52% of Americans plan in the next year to make a major purchase of at least one of the following: a vacation, electronics, furniture, home renovations, an automobile, a major home appliance, a home, or a major medical procedure
- People who say the economy is excellent or good are more likely than those who describe it as fair or poor to say they expect to make a major purchase in the next year (64% vs. 49%)
- Half of Americans expect a higher rate of inflation in six months, more than twice the share who expect a lower rate (50% vs. 18%)
- Democrats overwhelmingly expect inflation in six months to be higher rather than lower (74% vs. 2%)
- Republicans are more likely than Democrats to expect lower inflation in six months, but less than half expect it: 25% of Republicans expect higher inflation and 37% expect lower inflation
- Americans differ on how large corporations affect the U.S. economy: 31% think they have a positive effect, 34% say the effect is negative, and 20% say it is neither positive nor negative
- Republicans are about twice as likely as Democrats to view the effect of corporations as positive (48% vs. 23%)
- Men are more likely than women to see it as positive (37% vs. 26%)
- Adults under 45 are less likely than older Americans to see it as positive (26% vs. 35%)
- Americans are far more likely to say that Trump is more responsible for the current state of the economy than to say Joe Biden is (57% vs. 22%). The share saying responsibility lies more with Trump than with Biden has increased steadily throughout Trump's second term
- More Americans expect that artificial intelligence (AI) will have a negative effect on the U.S. economy than expect a positive effect (44% vs. 13%). Adults under 30 are about twice as likely as older people to think AI will have a mostly positive effect on the economy (26% vs. 12%)
- Nearly two-thirds (64%) of Americans think AI will lead to a decrease in the number of jobs available in the U.S.; 8% think it will increase jobs and 9% think it will have no effect
Trump's health and political future
- 23% of Americans describe Trump's health as excellent or very good; 16% say it is good, and 46% say it is fair or poor. Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say his health is excellent or good (48% vs. 4%) and more likely to say so than to rate their own health as excellent or good (43%); 24% of Republicans say their own health is fair or poor, compared to only 18% who say the same about Trump's health
- Nearly half (46%) of Americans say that Trump is too old to be president — including 77% of Democrats, 49% of Independents, and 15% of Republicans
- Two-thirds (69%) of Americans — including 81% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans — say that the public has a right to receive detailed information about the president's health (the question didn't name the president or ask specifically about Trump)
- Only 16% of Americans — including 3% of Democrats, 11% of Independents, and 34% of Republicans — say they have a great deal of trust in information provided by the White House about Trump's health
- Trump has recently raised the possibility of staying in office beyond his current term — a prospect that most Americans don't want
- 45% of Americans expect that Trump will attempt to serve a third term. Far fewer — 13% — think he should attempt to do so, and only 5% think that the Constitution allows it
- Far more Democrats than Republicans think Trump will seek to serve a third term (68% vs. 26%). More Republicans than Democrats think he should attempt to serve a third term (29% vs. 1%), though majorities of Republicans and Democrats say the Constitution does not allow it (72% vs. 91%). Only 9% of Republicans and 1% of Democrats say the Constitution does allow it
- Fewer Americans now think Trump will attempt to serve a third term than did in early April (45% vs. 52%); the share who say he should attempt to do so also has declined (13% vs. 17%), as has the share saying he is allowed to (5% vs. 8%)
- Among Republicans, there has been a decline since April of 8 points in the share believing Trump will attempt to serve a third term, a decline of 7 points in the share saying he should, and a decline of 7 points in the share saying he is allowed to do so
The Epstein investigation
- Net approval of Trump's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigations has changed little over the past month, and is currently at -35 (meaning the share of Americans who strongly or somewhat disapprove of his handling is 35 points higher than the share who approve). It has increased slightly among Republicans, to +21 from +14
- About two-thirds (68%) of Americans think Trump knew some (27%) or a lot (41%) about the sex crimes committed by Epstein against underage girls before investigations into Epstein began; only 8% say he knew nothing about them. These numbers have changed little since last month
- 41% of Americans think Trump was involved in crimes allegedly committed by Epstein; 34% believe he wasn't
- This marks a decline of 6 points over the last month in the share of Americans who believe Trump was involved. The largest decrease has been among Independents, to 40% saying he was involved, from 52%
— Carl Bialik contributed to this article
Throughout this report, some numbers may appear to be off by 1 because of rounding
See the toplines and crosstabs for the September 5 - 8, 2025 Economist/YouGov Poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,644 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3.5%.
Image: Getty (Justin Sullivan / Staff)
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