Only 26 percent of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the United States, according to a new Gallup poll.
That's down six points from a two-year high reached at the beginning of the year, when 32 percent said they were satisfied with the direction the country.
According to 14 percent of respondents, the biggest problem facing the U.S. is once again the government, Congress and politicians - topping the list for six months. The economy in general followed with 12 percent, down from a high of 37 percent in 2012. Ten percent said unemployment is the biggest problem, down from a high of 39 percent in 2011.
Gallup notes that the drop in Americans' level of satisfaction with how things are going parallels a recent decline in economic confidence.
"Views of the nation's direction have certainly been brighter in the past. Majorities of Americans were typically satisfied with the direction of the U.S. between 1998 and mid-2002 - including a record high of 71% in February 1999," Gallup writes. "But satisfaction declined steadily in the latter half of President George W. Bush's presidency as the public grew disillusioned with the war in Iraq and the national economy suffered. This dip in satisfaction culminated in 7% of Americans, a record low, saying they were satisfied with the direction of the nation in October 2008 as the global economy collapsed and the U.S. stock market plummeted."
The satisfaction level reached 36 percent in August 2009 - the first year President Barack Obama was in office, but has ranged between 11 percent and 33 percent since then.
Eight percent of respondents said race relations and racism are the biggest problem facing the country, while 6 percent said immigration and 6 percent said a decline in moral, religious and family ethics. Five percent said the biggest problem is the state of the health care system, while another 5 percent said the biggest problem is terrorism.
The poll was conducted between May 6 and 10 with a random sample of 1,024 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
In separate Gallup polls released in the past week, Obama's job approval rating was evenly divided, with 48 percent approving and 47 percent disapproving, while Congress' job approval rating was stuck near historical lows, at 19 percent.
