Seventy-five percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States, while only 23 percent are satisfied, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.
The satisfaction level in August, down five percentage points from July, indicates that last month's slightly higher satisfaction rating was not the beginning of sustained improvement, the Gallup said in a report.
Thirty-one percent of Americans continue to regard the economy as the most important problem facing the country today, followed by unemployment or jobs at 23 percent. Fifteen percent mentioned dissatisfaction with the government, while 8 percent expressed dissatisfaction with healthcare and 7 percent with the federal budget deficit.
The current overall satisfaction level indicates the challenges faced by President Barack Obama in his re-election campaign. Satisfaction is now similar to what it was in early August 1992 (17 percent), prior to George W. Bush's re-election defeat, the report said.
It is significantly lower than what it was in mid-August 1996 (38 percent) and mid-August 2004 (44 percent), years in which incumbents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, respectively, were re-elected, it added.
Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Aug. 9-12 with a random sample of 1,012 adults. The error margin of the poll is about 4 percent.
