Gallup: West Virginians Down on the Economy

The Mountain State registered the third-lowest confidence in the economy in Gallup's latest index on the topic, drawn from telephone interviews conducted throughout 2009.

This index comes from two different measures, "one asking respondents to rate current economic conditions as excellent, good, only fair, or poor, and the other asking respondents to assess whether the economy is getting better or getting worse," Gallup said.

Fifty-two percent of West Virginia respondents had called conditions "poor," versus just 11 percent who called it excellent or good.

The Mountain State also had the largest share of residents opining that the economy was getting worst, at 71 percent. Just 24 percent thought the economy was improving.

But Gallup found that, like in most every state, economic confidence in West Virginia had improved when compared to 2008's survey results. The state had a double-digit boost (though barely) in its index rating.