Econintersect: Pew Research Center reports that favorable opinions of both business and labor “have rebounded from record lows reached in the summer of 2011.” Business polled a 55% favorable rating (vs. 39% unfavorable), slightly better than labor unions with 51% favorable and 42% unfavorable. However, the favorablity of opinion regarding labor is relatively stronger than for business compared to historical opinion going back to 1985, especially compared to the late 1990s.
There are two observations Econintersect draws from the Pew results and from other data from Gallup:
1. The ideological divide has grown from 2011 to 2013 for attitudes toward both business and labor. Perhaps the most outstanding change is the deviation of conservative Republicans from the improving opinion toward labor unions from all other political groups.
2. The long-term record of approval and disapproval for usions has never been more negative than over the most recent four years, as shown in the graph below from Gallup.
Sources:
- Favorable Views of Business, Labor Rebound (Michael Dimock, Carroll Doherty and Alec Tyson, Pew Research Center, 27 June 2013)
- Labor Unions (Gallup, 31 August 2012)
