美国有线新闻 CNN 美国失业率创17年新低 民调揭示民众对经济看法（在线收听）

美国失业率创17年新低 民调揭示民众对经济看法

The unemployment rate, the share of the American labor force that doesn't have a job is low. It's at 4.1 percent. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics records that as the lowest unemployment rate since the year 2000.

Now, a new national survey by the Pew Research Center is giving us a sense of how the American public feels about the job situation. Fifty percent of those surveyed say there are plenty of jobs to be found in their communities. That's the highest percentage of people who've said since 2001, and it's increased seven points since the summer of last year.

But wage growth has been a consistent challenge for the economy and 49 percent of the Americans surveyed said the cost of living is rising faster than their families incomes. Forty percent say they're breaking even, 9 percent say they're getting ahead. That's all a slight improvement from last year, but it's about even with the survey results from two years ago.

So, how do Americans feel about the economy overall? Forty-one said conditions are good or excellent. That's an increase of 10 points since last December. Fifty-nine percent said they're poor or fair.

And while those positive economic views have increased by 41 percentage points among Republicans, they've decreased by 16 percentage points among Democrats.

So, there appears to be a political divide on how American adults feel about the state of the national economy.

The survey was taken in late October. Pew Research interviewed more than 1,500 adults to get the info.