It all added up. According to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 55 percent of Americans say 2016 was either below average (35 percent) or one of the worst years they can remember for the country (20 percent). That’s more optimistic than at the height of the recession in December 2008, when eight-in-ten Americans said the year was pretty awful. But it’s also the worst since 2012.
What’s more, only 15 percent of Americans say at 2016 was above average or one of the best years they can remember, about half of the share that said the same in 2015, 2014 and 2013.
As they did last year, Republicans were more likely than Democrats to give the year as a whole a thumbs down. And, as in 2015, African-Americans were more optimistic about the year than other racial groups.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member