After the recent terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, Americans' satisfaction with the way things are going in the U.S. dropped seven percentage points to 20%. This is the lowest level of satisfaction recorded since November 2014, but still above the all-time low of 7% in October 2008.Question of the Day
A seven-point month-to-month drop in satisfaction is rare but not unprecedented. Satisfaction dropped seven points in 2013 during the October partial government shutdown. It plummeted 12 points in the fall of 2008 as the economy crumbled, falling to the all-time low of 7% in mid-October of that year.
The recent high point in satisfaction is 32% in January and February of this year, the highest since the end of 2012. Satisfaction levels have been lower for the rest of this year. But despite month-to-month fluctuations, at least 25% of Americans have been satisfied each month until the December reading.
Is a 25% satisfaction rate something to be pleased about?
Satisfaction Demographics
The political party satisfaction levels are rather interesting. Last month 42% of Democrats were satisfied but only 13% of Republicans. Is this simply a factor of who is in the White House?
Regardless, Democrat satisfaction plunged a whopping 15 percentage points to 27.
Gallup comments "White Americans remain less likely to be satisfied than nonwhite Americans, probably because whites are more likely to be Republicans."
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
