Flagging economic optimism – Only 29 percent of Americans expect the economy to improve in the next year, down from 35 percent last October to the lowest point since 2008, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Almost a quarter believe the economy will get worse and fully 46 percent say it will stay the same; not a good prognosis given that 91 percent currently say the economy is in bad shape. Those results mirror a new AP poll which found 33 percent believing that the economy will improve – down 10 points in a month – and 29 percent saying it will get worse. Why the souring spirits? Pew notes that the percentage of Americans hearing “mostly bad” economic news has almost doubled from 24 to 46 percent since January.

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