FIN SURVEY

Confidence in the White House and U.S. Congress on business issues rose in 2010 from record lows a year ago.
 

• Confidence in the White House on business issues surged from a 1.9 record low at the end of 2009 to 2.8 as 2011 begins.

The White House index has averaged 2.9 since it was first asked in 1997. The high point was 3.5 in 2000.

Behind the average were fewer “very low” and “low” rankings.
A year ago almost half rated their confidence in the White House at “very low,” compared with just shy of a quarter this year.  “Low” ratings dropped to 13% from 24.1% “low” a year ago.
 

• The incoming U.S. Congress continued to rank below the White House with a 2.4 rating. That was up from 1.7 a year ago and 1.9 two years ago.
 

A 51% majority gave the incoming U.S. Congress “Low” or “Very Low” ratings on business issues – an improvement from a year ago. 
 

While 31% rated the new Congress “very low,” that figure is down from 56.1% a year ago. Another 20% rated the incoming Congress “low” – bettering the 28% “low” a year ago. ©2011 GlobalFastenerNews.com