PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans continue to give the computer industry the most positive ratings out of 25 business and industry sectors tested, with the restaurant industry in second place. The oil and gas industry and the federal government have the least positive images, as they did last year.

Gallup has asked Americans each August since 2001 to indicate whether they have positive or negative views of a list of business and industry sectors. The 2012 update is from Gallup's Aug. 9-12 Work and Education survey.

Americans have widely differing opinions of these business sectors, with positive ratings ranging from 73% for the computer industry to 22% for the oil and gas industry, and negative ratings going from 10% for the computer and restaurant industries to 61% for oil and gas.

Five of the six highest-rated business and industry sectors, according to their net positive scores, are related to either the computer or the food sector of the economy. The one exception is the "retail" industry, which is in third place this year. The images of both the oil and gas industry and the federal government have improved this year compared with last, but they remain at the bottom of the list.

More broadly, the positive ratings of several industries improved significantly this year -- the healthcare, education, and retail sector ratings are up the most. Banking, farming/agriculture, and electric and gas utilities are among the smaller group of industries whose images worsened slightly this year.

Image of Healthcare Sector Best Yet

Americans' views of the healthcare industry this year are the most positive they have been over the past decade. Healthcare industry ratings have been generally quite volatile, becoming more negative in 2007 and 2008, recovering in 2009, and falling back again in 2010 and 2011.

Although it is difficult to isolate precise reasons for these changes, the current uptick in the healthcare industry's positive image may reflect the impact of the Supreme Court's June decision upholding the massive Affordable Care Act.

Federal Government's Image Recovers Again This Year

Americans' ratings of the federal government recovered slightly this year, but are not back to where they were prior to declining to their lowest level on record last year, just after the protracted wrangling and indecision on raising the debt ceiling. Previously, Americans' views of the federal government began to deteriorate significantly in 2004 and then rose slightly in the first two years of the Obama administration.

In the broadest sense, the change since 2003 has been substantial, with a drop in positive ratings of 18 percentage points and a rise in negative ratings of 25 points.

Republicans have the most negative image of the federal government, with 85% saying their impression is either somewhat or very negative. Independents and Democrats are less negative, but notably, even Democrats have slightly more negative than positive impressions of the federal government.

Implications

Most Americans come into frequent contact with the computer, food, oil and gas, and banking segments of the economy, yet the images of these segments differ dramatically. Americans think very highly of the computer, Internet, restaurant, grocery, and agricultural sectors, but very poorly of the oil and gas and banking industries.

The cause of the oil and gas industry's bad image is most likely the frequent and sometimes inexplicably large spikes in the price of gas. At the time of this survey, in fact, the price of gas was on the rise. Plus, the oil and gas industry may get dinged by some Americans for its perceived poor environmental record.

On the other hand, America has remained the world's dominant player in many aspects of the computer industry, with companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook standing as examples of entrepreneurial efforts that arose in short periods of time to offer products and services used the world over. It appears that Americans appreciate these success stories and hold these industry sectors in high esteem.

Food prices are on the rise due to the continuing drought conditions in parts of the U.S., which may help explain why the farming and agriculture sector's image is down slightly this year. Still, overall, Americans apparently think highly of the elements of the food production and distribution chain that provide the country's citizens with their daily sustenance.

Voters' perceptions of the appropriate role of government will play a major role in this November's presidential election. The Romney-Ryan ticket will continue to argue that the government should have a lessened role in America's social and economic spheres, while the Obama-Biden ticket will argue for the importance of government in addressing major social and economic problems. How the poor image of the federal government will affect these debates is not yet clear. The Republicans have an edge in voter sympathy with their criticism of government in general, it would appear, although the fact that Romney's new running mate is himself a sitting member of Congress could in theory negate some of that advantage.