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The stock market has been soaring for the last five years, but Americans overall take a negative view of the economy.

That’s according to Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index, which showed some improvement after the nadir of the government shutdown last fall, but has flatlined in the negative for the past few months. According to Gallup, Americans are more depressed about the economy this May than they were a year ago, despite seeing better prospects in the job market.

The polling outfit concludes, “Americans may be looking for bigger signals than stock market gains or minor monthly improvements in the job market that the economy has truly recovered.”

A separate but related poll shows a majority of Americans believe big U.S. businesses do a poor job of growing the economy.

— Posted by Peter Z. Scheer

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#economy#gallup#government#poll#stock market#wall street