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Survey shows Wisconsin residents pessimistic about economy

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Record-high gas prices, increasing energy costs and fears about a national recession all have Wisconsin residents on edge.

A poll released Tuesday reveals record-high concerns over the direction of the nation’s economy and the perception of how things are going in Wisconsin.

Sixty-six percent of those surveyed in the University of Wisconsin Survey Center’s Badger Poll said they think Wisconsin is in bad economic times. Forty percent said they expected it to get worse over the next 12 months.

Even more — 55 percent — said they expect the national economy to get worse over the next year. Attitudes shown in the poll were „definitely the most pessimistic“ since the survey started in 2002, said Katherine Cramer Walsh, a University of Wisconsin professor who worked on it.

Despite apprehension over the economy, most of those polled didn’t seem too concerned about their own situation.

A majority of those who responded to the poll said they had no fear, or only a slight fear, of losing their job, being able to pay bills or losing value in their home.

Lower-income people were more concerned about losing their job. Of those who earned less than $40,000 a year, 17 percent said they were extremely worried about being unemployed. That compares with just 2 percent of those earning more than $40,000.

Unemployment in Wisconsin has remained steady, coming in at 5.6 percent in March — the same as a year ago at that time.

The survey was released a day after General Motors announced it was cutting 756 jobs at its Janesville plant due to a weakening economy and high gas prices.

Questions were asked between April 15 and Thursday. The random sample survey of 521 people has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Twenty-three percent of those surveyed said the economy and jobs were the most important issues facing Wisconsin. That’s double the number of people who said so just four months ago. And Wisconsin residents weren’t the only ones feeling down.

A widely watched national measure of consumer sentiment also released Tuesday dropped to a five-year low. The Consumer Confidence Index by the private New York-based Conference Board was at its weakest point since March 2003. The drop was blamed on increasing gas prices and weaker job prospects.

Other Badger Poll findings:

— 91 percent said the price of gasoline was extremely or quite problematic. The price at the pump across the state was at record-high levels Tuesday, averaging $3.64 a gallon for regular unleaded, according to AAA. At the same time last year, gas was just $2.96.

— 75 percent said the cost of health care was extremely or quite problematic.

— 67 percent said home heating and energy prices are extremely or quite problematic.

— 21 percent believed the state is in good economic times.