Poll: 17 percent satisfied with U.S.

By: MJ Lee
Politico.com
December 22, 2011 06:15 AM EST

Watch out incumbents: Only 17 percent of Americans say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the United States in 2011, the second lowest annual average ever, a new Gallup poll Thursday shows.

Since Gallup began asking the question gauging satisfaction in the country in 1979, the annual average was lower only in 2008 at 15 percent.

The level of satisfaction had averaged the highest at 60 percent in1986, 1998 and 2000.

Throughout 2011, Americans’ satisfaction with the way things are going in the country ranged from a low of 11 percent in August and September to a high of 26 percent in May, measured soon after the death of Osama bin Laden.

The dissatisfaction among Americans may stem largely from the country’s economic situation — almost 2 out of 3 chose an economic issue as the most important problem facing the country.

(More here.)