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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Gallup's U.S. Economic Confidence Index averaged -3 for the week ending April 12. This score is consistent with the slightly negative range of -4 to -2 into which the index has fallen during most of the past eight weeks.

The index broke out of this negative range for one week in early March, although . More generally, however, the confidence zone since mid-February contrasts with a string of slightly positive scores between mid-December and early February as gas prices were dropping. A well-received unemployment report in early March may have temporarily improved Americans' economic confidence. After that, confidence dipped below zero, where it has subsequently leveled off, as .

Gallup's Economic Confidence Index is the average of two components: Americans' views of the state of the current economy and their opinions on whether the economy is getting better or worse. The theoretical maximum of the index is +100, if all Americans say the economy is excellent or good and getting better. The theoretical minimum is -100, if all Americans believe the economy is poor and getting worse.

For the week ending April 12, 27% of Americans said the current economy was excellent or good, while 27% said it was poor, resulting in a current conditions score of 0. That is slightly better than most readings since mid-February.

At the same time, the overall index has been weighed down by Americans' persistent pessimism about the economy's direction. The latest weekly economic outlook score is -5, based on 45% of Americans saying the economy is getting better versus 50% saying it is getting worse. This score has been essentially unchanged over the past four weeks.

The data in this article are available in .

Survey Methods

Results for this 优蜜传媒poll are based on telephone interviews conducted April 6-12, 2015, on the 优蜜传媒U.S. Daily survey, with a random sample of 3,545 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.

Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 50% cellphone respondents and 50% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.

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