American economic optimism took a sharp turn down in the fourth quarter from record high levels, with the CNBC All-America Economic Survey registering its biggest quarterly drop in its 12-year history. Yet the decline in optimism looks to be doing little to dissuade Americans from shopping for the holiday season. Spending plans surged to their highest level in the history of the survey, propelled by strong income and wage gains over the past year. The percentage of Americans viewing the economy as excellent or good dropped 8 points to 50 percent. Yet that number remains well above the long-run average for the survey. Those believing the economy will improve dropped 5 points to 31 percent, bringing it back down to the long-run average. The decline wiped out a big part of the gain that ensued after President Donald Trump took office. "This is not the trend we have been seeing,'' said Micah Roberts, partner with Public Opinion Strategies and the Republican pollster for CNBC's survey. "We are on a different trajectory than we have seen since the Trump presidency."

View on Trump

The fall in optimism reflected on Trump's economic approval, which ticked down from 51 percent in October to 48 percent in the most recent survey, while his disapproval rose to 42 percent from 38 percent. "The president has repeatedly taken full credit for the economy's improvement, and many Americans agreed,'' said Jay Campbell, partner Hart Research Associates, the Democratic pollster for the survey. " But now he's finding that it works both ways — when Americans' financial mood darkens, it's a weight he's going to have to bear. Trump's overall job approval rating, however, did not change compared with October. It remained at 41 percent and his disapproval fell 2 points to 47 percent. His support rose among Republicans, but dropped among Democrats and strongly among independents. The nationwide poll of 802 Americans was conducted Dec. 3 thru 6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. That puts the change in the president's economic approval rating inside the margin of error.

Big spending plans