Polling: Americans’ optimism about finances at four-year high

Americans’ optimism about their personal finances soared to a four-year high after President Donald Trump’s announcement this week that the U.S. and China had reached a temporary trade agreement.

According to polling conducted Monday and Tuesday from Napolitan News Service, 31% of registered voters say their personal finances are getting better while 31% say they had gotten worse.

“That’s up significantly from two weeks ago when 25% said better and 36% said worse,” Napolitan News Service said.

In late October 2024, just a week before the presidential election, 25% of voters also said their personal finances were better but 41% said they were worse. The last time 31% of Americans said their personal finances were better was July 2021.

“Prior to this release, every survey since July 2021 has been net negative – more people saying their finances are getting worse than better,” Mapolitan said.

On Monday, Trump announced the U.S. and China were lowering tariffs on each others’ imported goods from well over 100% each to 10% as the two superpowers continue trade negotiatons.

“We achieved a total reset with China after productive talks in Geneva,” Trump said Monday, The Center Square reported. “Both sides now agree to reduce the tariffs imposed after April 2 to 10% for 90 days as negotiators continue on the larger structural issues.”

Monday’s trade news sent stocks soaring, with the Dow gaining 2.8%, the S&P 500 jumping 3.26%, and Nasdaq up 4.3%.

The poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters and was conducted online by pollster Scott Rasmussen. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.1%.

• The Center Square reporter Brett Rowland contributed to this report.