59% Favor Extension of Unemployment Benefits
Most Americans favor extending unemployment benefits for an additional 20 weeks.
Business
Most Recent Releases
November 6, 2009
November 6, 2009
Americans Favor Home Buyer Tax Credit Until They Hear How Much It Costs
Most Americans like the idea of providing tax credits for first-time home buyers but are less enthusiastic when the price tag is included. They strongly oppose expanding it to existing homeowners, although Congress did just that this week.
November 4, 2009
Ford Favorables Continue to Rise As GM, Chrysler Slip
On the heels of Ford’s better-than-expected third quarter profits and its promise of solid profitability by 2011, 68% of Americans adults hold a favorable opinion of the one company that passed on a government bailout. Ford continues to far outdistance public perceptions of General Motors and Chrysler.
November 4, 2009
37% Expect To Be With Same Employer Over Five Years From Now
In the United States today, workers expect to change jobs on a regular basis. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just, 37% of working Americans expect to be working for the same employer in five years.
November 3, 2009
65% Say Leaving Current Job Will Be Their Choice
Employed Americans are slightly more confident than they were this summer that leaving their current jobs will be their own decision rather than their employer’s.
October 28, 2009
Only 28% Say Some Banks Are Too Big To Fail
The Obama Administration and senior congressional Democrats hope to exercise more government control over big banks to keep them from failing, but voters don’t seem too sympathetic right now.
October 26, 2009
33% Say Stimulus Helped Economy, 31% Say It Hurt
Questions linger about the effectiveness of the $787-billion economic stimulus plan proposed by President Obama and passed by Congress in February.
October 23, 2009
Most Americans Support Caps on Bank Overdraft Fees But Say Frequent Offenders Should Pay More
Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Americans say the federal government should place limits on how much banks charge when customers overdraw their bank accounts, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
October 20, 2009
81% Still Concerned About Inflation
Despite reports of slowing inflation from Federal Reserve policymakers, Americans remain highly concerned about the issue and lack confidence in the Fed to keep inflation under control.
October 19, 2009
50% Still Lack Confidence In U.S. Banks
One-out-of-two Americans (50%) still lack confidence in the U.S. banking system, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
October 19, 2009
President Gets Mixed Reviews for Plan on Sending $250 to All Seniors
Time Magazine refers to it as the Obama administration's "stealth stimulus," pumping more government money into the economy without packaging it as a politically unpopular second economic stimulus plan. One of the new ideas is a proposed one-time $250 payment to seniors who for the first time in years won't be getting a cost of living increase in their Social Security checks because inflation's down.
October 15, 2009
56% Favor State Lotteries as Revenue Source
Most Americans like state lotteries and think they’re one thing that state governments should run them rather than the private sector.
October 14, 2009
Most Want Government To Sell Amtrak, GM and Chrysler
The British government is selling a number of things it owns to pay off its growing debt, but voters have mixed feelings about the U.S. government doing the same thing. Amtrak and the ownership stakes in General Motors and Chrysler can go, as far as voters are concerned, but don’t touch the government’s land and the U.S. Postal Service.
October 13, 2009
Confidence in Housing Values Jumps
Americans are more confident than they’ve been all year that housing values are going up and also are more likely to say their home is worth more than they owe on it. But they still don’t think it’s a good time to be selling.
October 8, 2009
62% Oppose Second Stimulus Package This Year
Some in Congress are considering a second stimulus plan to fight the country’s growing unemployment problem, but 62% of U.S. voters oppose the passage of another economic stimulus package this year.
October 8, 2009
67% Frown On National Sales Tax
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi floated the idea of a national sales tax in a recent television interview, but a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 67% oppose a national sales tax on all goods and services.
October 1, 2009
Americans Less Sure About Long-Term Strength of Economy
Forty-nine percent (49%) of American adults now say that the U.S. economy will be stronger in five years than it is today. That figure is down from 58% in July and 64% in March.
September 29, 2009
26% Say Their Firms Laying People Off, Lowest Since November
Twenty-six percent (26%) of American workers now say their employers are laying people off. That’s down from 28% a month ago and 30% two months ago. It’s the lowest number reporting layoffs since last November.
September 24, 2009
63% Say Housing Market Will Improve Only When Economy Does
Americans are slightly more confident that government action can help the housing market, but a sizable majority continues to believe that the market will only improve when the overall economy gets better.
September 23, 2009
36% Say Stimulus Plan Has Helped Economy
Confidence in the $787-billion economic stimulus package approved by Congress in February has reached a new high. Thirty-six percent (36%) of likely voters now say the package has helped the economy, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
