Poll: Americans' Satisfaction Sinks to Lowest Level Of The Year

Jon Terbush | December 20, 2010, 11:26AM

Just 17% of Americans say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S., according to a Gallup poll released today. It is the lowest level recorded by Gallup in a year marked by tepid economic recovery and midterm elections that resulted in Democrats losing 63 House seats.

Eighty-one percent of those surveyed said they were dissatisfied with the way things were doing, also a yearly high. Two percent had no opinion.

For the year, an average of 22% expressed satisfaction with how things were going in the country. That's the fourth lowest yearly average since Gallup began tracking the question in 1979. Only 2008 (15%), 1979 (19%), and 1992 (21%) had lower average yearly satisfaction levels. All were years in which the nation struggled through economic hardship.

The poll also provided evidence that the struggling economy is the leading cause of Americans' dissatisfaction. When asked to name the most pressing problem facing the nation, most respondents said it was either the economy or unemployment, the same two concerns that have topped Gallup's poll all year.

Thirty percent of respondents said their biggest concern was the economy, while 24% said they were most worried about unemployment. The next closest concerns -- a general "dissatisfaction with the government" and the federal deficit -- were cited by 13% and 10% of respondents, respectively.

The results are the latest in a string of polls showing broad discontent with the state of affairs in America.

Last week, Americans' opinion of Congress sank to the lowest level ever recorded by Gallup, with only 13% saying they approved of the way Congress was working, versus 83% who said they disapproved. The TPM Poll Average portrays a clear downward trend in Congressional approval over the past two years, with just 15.7% currently approving of how their elected representatives are doing.

And in a Washington Post-ABC News poll released last week, six in ten respondents said the war in Afghanistan was no longer worth fighting, also a record level of dissatisfaction for that poll.

Over the year, more and more Americans have said they feel like the country is heading in the wrong direction. According to the current TPM Poll Average, more than twice as many people think the country is on the wrong track (65.5%) than those who think it's on the right track (28.3%.)

The Gallup poll surveyed 1,019 adults nationwide December 10-12. It has a margin of error of 4.0%.