The U.S. economy is growing, gas prices are falling and wages are rising. It seems as though there's plenty to feel positive about.
Voters, however, are still unhappy.
The latest Politico/Morning Consult poll suggest that voters' dim view of the economy is locked in ahead of election day on Tuesday.
Two-thirds of voters believe the economy is in a recession, despite new data released last week showing that the economy grew in the third quarter by a healthy annualized rate of 2.6%.
The third quarter increase followed two quarters of decline, yet 58% of voters said they hadn't heard that GDP (gross domestic product -- the most commonly used measure for the size of an economy) was up, per the poll.
It was the 16th consecutive week in the poll that more than 60% of voters said they believe the U.S. economy is already in a recession, according to Politico.
It's a big deal, as 43% of those polled said that economic issues are the top priority they will take into consideration in choosing candidates in the midterm election -- ahead of abortion (13%), security issues (12%), Medicare/social security (11%), health care (6%), energy issues (6%), and education (3%).
Adding to their grim outlook, the poll showed that voters were more likely to have heard about the country's record-high inflation than they were about declining gas prices or recent increases in wages.
According to the poll, 54% said they hadn't heard much or anything at all about declining gas prices, and a full 70% of voters said they had not heard that wages have increased by an annual rate of 1.2%. On the other hand, 65% said they had heard about record-high inflation.
Even still, the poll shows most voters (80%) are enthusiastic about voting in the midterm elections.
With their minds already made up, about 1 in 4 voters (26%) have already cast their ballots, either by mail or by early in-person voting, instead of waiting until election day to weigh in, according to the poll.
Among party lines, the poll shows that 21% of Republicans (13% by mail and 8% in person), 23% of independents (18% by mail and 5% in person) and 33% of Democrats (26% by mail and 7% in person) have already voted.
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