October 19 Gallup Poll On Americans' Personal Finances - Notable Excerpts

On October 19, Gallup released poll results titled “Americans Grow More Negative About Their Personal Finances.”

I find this poll interesting for a variety of reasons; perhaps chief among them is as another indication of growing financial strain among households.  A few excerpts of note:

Nearly one in four U.S. adults (22%) now rate their personal financial situation as "poor." This is up slightly from the 16% to 19% range seen during and after the official U.S. recession, and is the highest percentage since Gallup began asking this question in 2001.

also:

Americans are also less hopeful about their future personal financial situations. Nearly half (48%) say their personal financial situation is "getting worse," up from 41% in April and nearly tying the record-high 49% who said so in April 2008. A new low of 29% say their personal financial situation is getting better.

also:

The fact that they are now even more likely than they were during the recession to rate their economic situation as poor helps explain why 80% of Americans maintain that the U.S. economy remains in recession. Further, the 48% who say their situation is getting worse is now similar to the percentage who said so in the months just prior to the U.S. economic collapse, perhaps giving fodder to those who predict a double-dip recession.

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The Special Note summarizes my overall thoughts about our economic situation


SPX at 1209.82 as this post is written