Love That Industry (or Not)

As investors, Americans have soured on any number of industries. As consumers, they’re likely to give good marks to the industries with which they deal, though disaffection has risen in recent years. The chart below reflects the findings of the latest Harris Poll on the issue. Of the sectors listed there, banks are the only one whose “good job” vote has risen since 1998 (by 2 percentage points). Others have suffered steep declines, with the worst coming for computer hardware (-19 points), telephone (-18 points) and computer software companies (-17 points).