Americans are the most positive they've been about the economy since President Barack Obama took office, according to a CNN/ORC poll released Tuesday.
The survey found that 52 percent of Americans rate the current economic condition of the country as "good" or "somewhat good," while 48 percent describe it as "poor" or "somewhat poor." This marks the first time that a significant plurality of Americans have described the economy in positive terms in a CNN/ORC poll since September 2007.
Americans also seem optimistic about the future of the economy. Sixty percent say that they expect the economy to be good a year from now, while 38 percent expect it to be poor. According to CNN, this is only the third time since Obama took office that opinions on economic outlook have hit a 60 percent positive rating-- once in 2009 at the onset of Obama's presidency and again during the 2012 election.
Comparatively, Gallup's economic confidence index has averaged -3 points for the last five weeks. The index averages the net score of how Americans feel about the current state of the economy with the net score of how Americans feel about the future of the economy. Although the current rating is negative, Gallup notes that this is one of the higher scores since the start of the recession.
Americans also feel that their personal economic conditions have improved. Forty-two percent in the CNN/ORC poll say that they are better off now than they were a year ago -- a 6-point jump since June 2013.
Along with improving economic perceptions, the latest poll found a boost in approval ratings for Obama. For the first time in two years, more Americans approve of Obama's job as president than disapprove. Forty-eight percent approve, while 47 percent disapprove.
HuffPost Pollster, which aggregates data on publicly released polls, finds that Obama's job approval specifically on the economy has entered positive territory for the first time since 2009, with 48 percent of Americans approving of how he is handling the economy and 46 percent disapproving.
CNN-ORC surveyed 1,018 American adults April 16-19 using live interviews via landline and cell phone.
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