By Paul Steinhauser
CNN Political Editor
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The number of Americans who say the economy is in good shape has dropped to the lowest level of the year, according to a new national poll.
And a CNN/ORC International survey also indicates that economic pessimism is growing in the wake of the government shutdown, with nearly six in 10 forecasting poor economic conditions a year from now.
The poll’s Tuesday morning release comes a few hours before the Labor Department announces the September unemployment report. The release of last month’s jobless figures was delayed because of the 16-day partial government shutdown.
In the poll that was conducted this past weekend, 71% of those questioned say that economic conditions are poor right now, with only 29% saying that current conditions are good — a drop of 4 percentage points since late September, just before the shutdown began.
“That number has not been particularly high in 2013, but throughout the year it has always been over 30%, making the current level of 29% the worst number since December of last year,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
Only 40% say that the economy will be in good shape a year from now. That’s down from 50% in June and represents the lowest level of optimism since October 2011. Some 59% say the economy will be in poor shape next fall.
The poll was conducted for CNN by ORC International October 18-20, with 841 adults nationwide questioned by telephone. The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
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