Wisconsinites have improved attitudes about the way things are going locally and nationally in a general sense, but they are less optimistic about the economic conditions of the state and country, according to The University of Wisconsin Survey Center Badger Poll released Tuesday.
According to the poll, 51 percent of Wisconsin residents said they are content with the current position the state is in, an increase of 9 percentage points from the spring of 2009.
The Badger Poll also found only 33 percent of Wisconsinites are generally pleased with the way things are going on a national scale — also a nine percentage point increase from last spring and more than twice the number satisfied in October 2008.
More specifically, Wisconsinites were polled on their attitudes toward the economic conditions within the state and also the nation.
According to poll, nine out of 10 Wisconsinites believe the state is still in a bad economic position. These results are similar to the attitudes Wisconsinites had one year ago around this time.
“The economy is certainly performing well below potential,” said Michael Knetter, dean of the UW Business School.
The poll also showed that on the national level, 95 percent of Wisconsinites believed that the United States is still in bad economic standing.
This is a 17 percent-point increase since the poll was last taken in October 2008.
“Unemployment is about as high as it has been at any time since World War II, and people have seen a loss of wealth in housing and financial markets, so it is not surprising to see this sentiment in a survey,” Knetter said.
The poll also found less than 40 percent of Wisconsinites believe the state or national economic conditions will get better within the next 12 months.
Although this may seem like a small amount, the number of people who believed that the economic conditions in Wisconsin and the nation will get worse has decreased since the spring.
“There are a lot of indicators of improvement, and we are starting to see signs of recovery now, but this will not be reflective in much job growth,” said Gary Green, UW professor of rural sociology and an expert on community and economic development.
Green added that overall economic growth will increase, but there are still several negative signs out there with regard to unemployment and housing foreclosure.
“While the economy may be growing, people still think that there are a lot of issues,” Green said.
According to the UW Badger Poll, 507 Wisconsin residents participated in each survey.
There is a theoretical margin of error in the survey of a little more than plus or minus 4 percentage points, meaning had every Wisconsin resident replied to the same questions, there is a one in 20 chance the answers would differ by more than 4 percentage points in either direction.
