Americans have a negative opinion of the federal government, ranking it just below the banking sector and just above the oil and gas industry in terms of image, a poll released Wednesday showed.
Only 26 percent of Americans said they had a positive view of the US federal government compared to nearly six in 10 who have a negative view, according to the survey by the Gallup polling organization and USA Today newspaper.
The net positive rating of the US government — calculated by subtracting the percentage who have a negative image from those with a positive view — was minus 32 percent, putting it just below the banking sector (minus 28 percent) and above the oil and gas sector (minus 43 percent.)
The poll was conducted in August, when BP was still struggling to plug a blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. Many Americans see the banking sector as one of the chief culprits behind the financial meltdown that led to the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The findings were presented just weeks before the November 2 elections, in which disgruntled voters are expected to snatch away the Democratic Party's majority in the House of Representatives and hand it to the Republicans.
Topping the positive-image list was the computer industry, which six in 10 Americans said they viewed favorably while just 11 percent saw negatively.
The next three most popular industries were linked to food: the restaurant sector had a net positive score of 46 percent, followed by the farming and grocery sectors with net positive ratings of 36 and 31 percent respectively.
The 11 sectors with below-zero ratings were, in descending order: advertising and public relations, education, electric and gas utilities, the airline industry, the legal field, pharmaceutical companies, real estate, healthcare, banking, government and, in last place, the oil and gas industry.
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