Gallup: More than half of Americans rate federal govt

Posted: Aug 15, 2016

The federal government ranks dead last in a new Gallup poll measuring Americans' views of U.S. business and industry sectors. More than half of the public -- 55 percent -- said their view of the federal government was either "very negative" or "somewhat negative." Seventeen percent expressed a "neutral" view of the federal government, and only 28 percent viewed the federal government as "very positive" or "somewhat positive." Of the five worst-rated U.S. business sectors, the federal government was last, just behind the pharmaceutical industry (51 percent total negative, 28 percent total positive) and the health care industry (54 percent total negative and 34 percent total positive). Gallup noted that although Democrats continue to be more positive than Republicans about the healthcare industry, the healthcare industry is now at a five-year low. Rounding out the bottom five are the legal profession and the oil and gas industry. On the other end of the scale, the restaurant and computer industries were tops in the poll, with 66 percent of Americans holding a very positive or somewhat positive view of them. Gallup notes that those two industries have long ranked among the best-rated, because they "offer Americans enjoyment and efficiency while not stirring up major political controversies." Other top-rated groups include the grocery industry (54 percent total positive), farming and agriculture (55 percent total positive), accounting, travel, Internet, automobile, retail, and real estate. The biggest improvement in industry ratings this year was for the airline industry, which had its best rating (41 percent positive) in more than a decade. Two other industries -- healthcare and pharmaceuticals -- have gone down in public esteem. It's also worth mentioning that the television and radio industry had 40 percent positive rating, a 38 percent negative rating, and 23 percent neutral. The bottom line, according to Gallup: "At a time of persistently low public trust in the federal government, and with many more Americans rating the federal government negatively than positively, it is reassuring that Americans tend to view the bulk of 25 major U.S. business and industry sectors positively. Results for the Gallup poll were based on telephone interviews conducted Aug. 3-7, 2016, with a random sample of 1,032 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Each industry was rated by a randomly chosen half sample of respondents. Results for each industry have a margin of sampling error of ±6 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 60% cellphone respondents and 40% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods. ;