Poll: Economic conditions in Pennsylvania reflect national averages according to public

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When it comes to American business Pennsylvanians rate their state near the middle of the pack for 2009.

Another entry in Gallup’s comprehensive “State of the States” series focuses on the economic health according to the people in all areas of the country. The study takes into account five separate categories; economic confidence, job creation, the hiring & letting go of employees and standard of living. The results place the Keystone State around the national average and indicate a mixed bag of ratings for New Jersey and Delaware.

Gallup’s “Economic Confidence Index” is a combined percentage of two questions asked to the American public. First asking them to rate current economic conditions in the country and second to ask them whether they feel those conditions as a whole are getting better or worse. “Job Creation Index” relates to questions on the hiring and letting go of employees from companies. The percentage of Americans who claim their companies are hiring new employees and expanding the size of their work force against those who suggest the opposite. The final category tracks the percentage of those who say they are currently satisfied with their standard of living.

Nationally the Gallup study finds increased economic optimism from 2008 to 2009 and a greater number of American adults are also more satisfied with their standard of living year over year. Pessimism is more apparent on the job front however as significantly fewer companies are hiring and more are laying-off employees according to the public.

The Keystone State is a fairly accurate barometer of those conditions nationally ranking at or near the middle of the pack in all five categories. Nearly 354,000 American adults were surveyed including 21,542 from Pennsylvania alone. The state ranks 23rd in the percentage of those letting their employees go and 25th in the number of companies hiring. Ranking 24th in the country the net difference tracked by Gallup’s “Job Creation Index” is at -0.1% meaning a virtually identical number of Pennsylvanians see themselves and their fellow employees as being hired and fired. Other categories such as the percentage of those who are satisfied with their standard of living (24th) and their view of current economic conditions (30th) also placed around the middle on the list of fifty states and Washington D.C.

Pennsylvania may have been fairly consistent reflecting national numbers from one category to the next but neighbors New Jersey and Delaware were all over the map.

The Garden State ranked a solid nineteenth in economic confidence for 2009 but below average in terms of standard of living (32nd) and in the number of employees being hired. It was also one of the worst states in terms if letting go (7th) and New Jersey’s “Job Creation Index” ranked 42nd worst in the country accordingly. Delaware was similarly irregular. The First State was on par ranking 25th nationally in standard of living and its economic confidence (31st) was only slightly below average. However it was also the fourth worst state in America in terms of job reduction, a sub par 36th in job creation and eight from the bottom of the rankings with its index. Previously Gallup rated Delaware as having the

worst working environment.

All three states surrounding greater Philadelphia made year over year improvements in their economic confidence and standard of living and all three dropped predictably in terms of overall job creation.

The top-five in economic confidence were Washington D.C., South Dakota, Nebraska, Utah and Iowa. The five worst in that category were Wyoming, Michigan, West Virginia, Nevada and Idaho. At 82.3% North Dakota had the highest percentage of citizens satisfied with their current standard of living. This was followed by neighboring South Dakota, Alaska, Minnesota and Iowa rounding out the top-five. The five worst meanwhile were Nevada at just 69% satisfaction followed by Rhode Island, Michigan, Ohio and Georgia. Seven states; North Dakota, Nebraska, West Virginia, Louisiana, Maryland, Alaska and Oklahoma had at least ten-percent more residents being hired than fired according to their public. The bottom-five on that list; Nevada, Michigan, Oregon, Connecticut and California were all in the negatives by nine-percent or worse.