Poll: Americans more upbeat about own finances than economy

Just 42 percent of adults describe the U.S. economy as good, according to a survey released Wednesday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The divide suggests that despite their own financial gains, many people worry about risks beyond their control — from a volatile stock market to another economic downturn.

The nation's unemployment rate has reached a healthy 5 percent, and workers' pay shows tentative signs of accelerating after years of barely budging.

Hospitals have become dominant employers in most cities, yet health care costs are outpacing pay.

[...] nothing has ignited the robust economic growth that Americans remember enjoying until the Great Recession struck in late 2007.

For years, they have seen the political class feud over how to accelerate economic growth and extend more opportunities to people who have been left out, with little to show for it.

The couple has built up retirement savings after years of work and raised three adult children.

Donald Trump, the real estate mogul whose aggressive economic nationalism has made him the presumptive Republican nominee, or Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner who has campaigned as a get-things-done policymaker.

Many Americans have seen their home values recover and have cut their mortgage bills by refinancing at ultra-low rates, thereby improving their personal finances.

[...] of their own circumstances, history shows that voters tend to develop negative views of the economy during presidential election years, which typically dwell on economic shortcomings, said Diane Lim, a researcher at the Committee for Economic Development, a non-partisan think tank.

A registered Republican, Johnson said he thinks a key to faster growth is persuading local banks to support small businesses and entrepreneurship, instead of requiring them to follow regulations more suited to global financial firms.