More than half of Americans optimistic about coming year: Marist survey

Joanne Haner
·1-min read

More than half of Americans are optimistic about the coming year, according to a new Marist survey.

Fifty-six percent of respondents said they were optimistic about 2025, compared to the 43 percent who said they were pessimistic. This is a 16-point increase from December 2023, when 40 percent of respondents said they were optimistic about the upcoming year. It also marks the highest share of optimists since Marist’s December 2020 survey, when 56 percent of respondents also said they were optimistic about the coming year.

This varies along party lines. While 82 percent of Republicans said they were optimistic about 2025, only 54 percent of independents said the same. Similarly, more than two-thirds (68 percent) of Democrats reported being pessimistic about 2025.

The survey also showed that younger generations are more likely to be optimistic, with 59 percent of Generation Z and millennial respondents reporting optimism, compared to 60 percent of Generation X members and 48 percent of Baby Boomers.

ADVERTISEMENT

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.

Latest stories

  • 'No money': gloom on Beijing streets as economic growth slows

    Consumers pinching pennies, businesses seeing fewer customers, and a pervading sense that the economy just isn't bouncing back -- the mood was grim in Beijing as China posted some of its lowest growth in decades."For us who do business, it's obvious that there are much fewer customers coming to our store, and customers' consumption levels don't compare to before," Yang said.

  • Trump's US Treasury pick Bessent says dollar must remain world's reserve currency

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Scott Bessent, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's choice to head the Treasury Department, on Wednesday vowed to ensure that the dollar remains the world's reserve currency as he laid out a vision for a "new economic golden age". Bessent, who faces questioning before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, said in prepared testimony that the new Trump administration must prioritize productive investment that grows the economy over "wasteful spending that drives inflation." "We must secure supply chains that are vulnerable to strategic competitors, and we must carefully deploy sanctions as part of a whole-of-government approach to address our national security requirements," Bessent said in the remarks.

  • Chinese economic growth among slowest in decades

    China posted one of its slowest rates of economic growth in decades Friday, as leaders nervously eye a potential trade standoff with incoming US president Donald Trump.Trump, who will begin his second term next week, has promised to unleash heavy trade sanctions on China.

  • China's economy expands 5% in 2024, hitting target helped by strong exports, stimulus measures

    Exports have surged as companies and consumers rush to beat potential tariff hikes President-elect Donald Trump may impose on Chinese goods. “The national economy was generally stable with steady progress and new achievements were made in high-quality development,” the report by the National Bureau of Statistics said. Total retail sales of consumer goods grew 3.5% at an annual rate.

  • Why are interest rates rising when the Fed has been cutting them?

    Swings in the bond market recently sent the yield on the 10-year Treasury above 4.80% and its highest level since 2023. The bond market's moves might seem strange given that the Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates three times starting in September. The Fed has cut its main interest rate by a full percentage point since September.

  • Global economy could face 50% loss in GDP between 2070 and 2090 from climate shocks, say actuaries

    Exclusive: Report by risk experts says previous assessments ignored severe effects of climate crisis

  • Elon Musk and DOGE eyeing $120 billion in cuts on federal diversity spending, says report

    DOGE, which is not actually a government department, wants to cut up to $2 trillion in annual spending

  • Analysis-Ukrainian migrant exit could squeeze Eastern Europe's economies

    Eastern European nations confronting a plethora of economic threats fuelled by war on their doorstep may face fresh pressure if peace is reached in Ukraine - from tight labour markets that fuel inflation thanks to an exodus of Ukrainian workers. Central and eastern European countries are home to a large proportion of more than 4.3 million Ukrainians who fled to the EU in the wake of Russia's invasion and have filled jobs amid historically low unemployment levels. Their possible return to Ukraine after a peace deal is reached would be a snag in what is otherwise good news for the region.

  • House GOP's Budget Hawks Now Want A $4 Trillion Debt Limit Hike

    The Treasury Department will begin using accounting moves soon to keep from defaulting. The House Freedom Caucus says its proposal would buy two years of time.

  • IMF lifts US outlook, warns countries against protectionism, subsidies

    The International Monetary Fund on Friday raised its forecast for global growth in 2025 by one-tenth of a percentage point, with stronger-than-expected growth in the U.S. offsetting downward revisions in Germany, France and other major economies. In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF projected global growth of 3.3% in both 2025 and 2026, and said global headline inflation was set to drop to 4.2% in 2025 and 3.5% in 2026, allowing a further normalization of monetary policy and ending the global disruptions of recent years. But it said global growth remained below the historical average of 3.7% from 2000-2019, and warned countries against unilateral measures such as tariffs, non-tariff barriers or subsidies that could hurt trading partners and spur retaliation.

  • US weekly jobless claims increase; labor market conditions still healthy

    The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week, but remained at levels consistent with a healthy labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 217,000 for the week ended Jan. 11, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims data tend to be volatile at the start of the year, but have continued to signal low layoffs that are underpinning the labor market and broader economy.

  • How bond vigilantes could check Trump's power

    When Bill Clinton began his first term as president in 1993, he faced a challenge to his authority from an unexpected adversary: bond traders. Low taxes and high defense spending over the prior decade had contributed to U.S. debt doubling as a share of economic output. Clinton and his advisers worried that 'bond vigilantes' – so called because they punish governments' profligacy – would target the new Democratic administration.

  • US retail sales exit 2024 with momentum; labor market on solid ground

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. retail sales increased in December as households bought motor vehicles and a range of other goods, pointing to strong demand in the economy and further reinforcing the Federal Reserve's cautious approach to cutting interest rates this year. The report from the Commerce Department on Thursday prompted some economists to upgrade their economic growth estimates for the fourth quarter to just shy of the July-September quarter's brisk pace. It followed news last week of a surge in nonfarm payrolls in December and a drop in the unemployment rate to 4.1% from 4.2% in November.

  • Supermarket chain closes Bangsar bakery with roach spotted crawling on bread: outlet undergoes sanitisation, deep cleaning and pest control

    KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — A supermarket chain has apologised after a Facebook post from a customer highlighted a cockroach...

  • Jobless woman in Selangor loses over RM2m in crypto scam

    KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 — A 46-year-old unemployed woman has fallen victim to a fraudulent investment scheme, losing a stag...

  • A 13-year-old student in New Jersey fathered a child with his teacher, 34, authorities allege

    Laura Caron, 34, a former college basketball star, was arrested Wednesday and charged with abusing a student from the age of 11 years old while they lived with her at her home in Cape May, NJ

  • Nvidia CEO says not attending Trump's inauguration

    Nvidia's chief executive Jensen Huang said on Friday he will not be attending U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, but will instead be "on the road" celebrating the Lunar New Year with employees and their families. Asked by reporters outside Nvidia's new year party in Taipei whether he had talked with the incoming Trump administration about the new artificial intelligence export control rules the outgoing Biden administration unveiled this week, Huang said, "not yet". He also said he had met C.C. Wei, the chairman of Nvidia's main supplier TSMC for lunch where they talked about ramping up production of Nvidia's most advanced AI chips Blackwell.

  • Mom Washes Dirt Out of Sons' Mouths and Vacuums It Off Her Floor. Days Later, She Learns It Wasn't Dirt (Exclusive)

    The mom of three turned her back for just a minute

  • West Refuses To 'Recognise 1 Truth' About Russia Which Means Europe Has 'No Chance' Against Putin

    Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a dire warning to his allies today.

  • US trade envoy finds China's shipbuilding policies warrant 'urgent action'

    The US Trade Representative said Thursday that its probe into China's practices in the shipbuilding, maritime and logistics sectors found that Beijing's undermining of fair competition warranted "urgent action.""Beijing's targeted dominance of these sectors undermines fair, market-oriented competition, increases economic security risks, and is the greatest barrier to revitalization of US industries," USTR Katherine Tai said in a statement.