Americans enter holidays in dark mood: poll

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans enter the holiday season in a dark mood, with economic worries, security fears and a lack of confidence in government fueling growing pessimism, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

The Reuters/Zogby Index, which measures the mood of the country, fell for the third consecutive month, dropping from 96 in October to 94.9 on new growth in the number of Americans dissatisfied with the economy and pessimistic about the future.

President George W. Bush rebounded slightly from last month's record low, with the number of Americans who give him positive marks climbing to 28 percent from 24 percent. But Congress remained stuck with a dismal positive rating of 11 percent, tying its record low.

"For the third straight month, Americans have a sense that things are not getting better, they are getting worse," pollster John Zogby said.

Rising gasoline prices, a mortgage loan crisis and talk of a recession spooked the markets and hurt American confidence in the economy, he said, while concerns linger about a potential conflict with Iran, unrest in Pakistan and the Iraq war.

"All that bad news has a cumulative effect. It feeds and festers," Zogby said. "The mood is driven by the economy, but Americans clearly don't have much faith in their governmental institutions either."

The poll found 40 percent of Americans expect a recession in the next year, up from 31 percent last month, and 39 percent plan to spend less during the holiday season, up from 31 percent a month ago.

Ratings for U.S. economic policy fell, with the number calling it poor jumping from 28 percent to 32 percent. A big majority of Americans are still confident their children will have a better life, but the number fell slightly from 63 percent to 61 percent.