More than 50% of Americans say they are worse off now than they were two years ago when Barack Obama took office

A Bloomberg National Poll shows that 51% of respondents think their situation has deteriorated, compared with 35% who say they’re doing better. Americans have grown more downbeat about the country’s future in just the last couple of months, the poll shows. The pessimism cuts across political parties and age groups, and is common to both sexes. The negative sentiment may cast a pall over the holiday shopping season, according to the poll. A plurality of those surveyed - 46% - expects to spend less in 2010 than they did in 2009; only 12% anticipate spending more. In addition, 66% say the nation is headed in the wrong direction. That’s up from 62% who felt that way in an October 2010 poll and is the worst reading since the Bloomberg National Poll began in September 2009. Unemployment and jobs are the most important issue facing the country now with 50% of those surveyed identifying joblessness as their top concern. Joblessness rose to a seven-month high of 9.8% in November 2010, significantly above the 7.4% that prevailed in December 2008, the month before Obama was inaugurated.