from: http://www.investors.com/news/economy/ibdtipp-poll-the-trump-economic-optimism-surge-just-vanished/ JED GRAHAM 10:00 AM ET The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index fell to 51.7 in April, down from 55.3 in March. After hitting a 12-year high of 56.4 in February, optimism has fallen almost all the way back to where it was at the start of November, before the surprise election of Donald Trump. The polling, from March 24-30, came after President Trump pulled the plug on House Speaker Paul Ryan's bill that would have repealed and replaced ObamaCare but potentially increased the ranks of the uninsured by 24 million. The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index at the start of April remained just above its pre-Trump level, 51.7 vs. 51.3, and holding above the neutral 50 level. Yet two of the IBD/TIPP Poll's three major subindexes, optimism about the six-month economic outlook and satisfaction with government economic policies, have fallen below their pre-election levels. The third subindex, a gauge of optimism about personal financial prospects, remains moderately above its pre-Trump level, undoubtedly helped by the postelection rally in the Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 index and Nasdaq composite. The question for markets will be what to make of the sudden drop in Trump-fueled economic optimism. It's possible that the decline could be a fleeting response to the failed GOP effort to repeal ObamaCare, or it could signal lower confidence that Trump will enact a positive economic agenda. The risk is that a pullback in economic optimism will carry over to the business sector... ...The measure of confidence in federal economic policies slumped 7 points to 42.6, even worse than November's 43.1 reading. The index had signaled optimism for the first time in a decade in February.
Huh? It seems that job growth isn't being hurt at all. Especially jobs in the manufacturing and construction sectors. Business doesn't invest in new employees unless they expect them to be around for a while, especially since capital investment is required in the manufacturing and construction sectors in order to give the new employees something to do.
