Courtesy of Pam Martens
By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
The Gallup polling organization was out with another new study yesterday that shows America is dangerously heading in the wrong direction. Gallup’s latest poll found that Americans were more likely to be stressed and worried than much of the world. The 55 percent of Americans who said they had experienced stress the prior day was one of the highest rates out of the 143 countries studied. The global average was 35 percent.
With a 55 percent stress rate, the U.S. now ranks even with Albania, Iran and Sri Lanka. Only Greece, the Philippines and Tanzania rank higher at 59, 58 and 57 percent respectively.
The highest stress levels were reported among Americans aged 30 to 49, where 65 percent reported experiencing stress the prior day. The figure was just one percent lower for Americans aged 15 to 29, where 64 percent reported experiencing stress the prior day.
The new Gallup poll also measured worry and anger. Nearly half of Americans (45 percent) indicated that they felt worried a lot while 22 percent said they felt anger a lot. All three measurements (stress, worry and anger) had increased measurably since the prior poll. (See the full report here.)
Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO, Gallup
Stagnant wages and poor job opportunities are likely weighing heavily on the stress, worry and anger of Americans. Despite what you hear about the historically low 3.8 percent unemployment rate, there’s a “Big Lie” surrounding that number according to Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO of Gallup. Back in 2015, when the unemployment rate was 5.6 percent, Clifton created quite a stir when he appeared on CNBC and said he might “suddenly disappear” from challenging how the official unemployment rate is calculated. Clifton’s “Big Lie” opinion piece posted on the Gallup website at the time included this nugget:
“Say you’re an out-of-work engineer or healthcare worker or construction worker or retail manager: If you perform a minimum of one hour of work in a week and are paid at least $20 — maybe someone pays you to mow their lawn — you’re not officially counted as unemployed…”
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