Polls suggest 2013 wasn't America's best year

About half of Americans expect 2014 to be a better year than 2013, according to the recent AP-Times Square New Year's Eve poll. And judging by the typical questions pollsters use to measure the public mood, it doesn't seem like it could be much worse.
A look at how the American public rated the nation's performance in 2013:
RIGHT DIRECTION? NOT QUITE YET
The December AP-GfK poll showed the share of Americans who feel the nation is heading in the right direction rebounded to 34 per cent from its October low of 22 per cent, but it's not clear yet whether that's a directional shift or just a temporary recovery.

On average in this year's AP-GfK polls, 33 per cent said the country was heading the right way, down from 38 per cent in 2012 but about on par with the 2011 average of 32 per cent.
That 2011 figure marked the low point of President Barack Obama's time in office.

OBAMA'S APPROVAL FALLS
Obama's approval ratings shifted notably this year, landing in negative territory on average for the first time in his presidency. In AP-GfK polling conducted this year that averaged the president's approval rating, 46 per cent approved of the president's job performance, while 50 per cent disapproved.

This year marks the first substantial dip in the president's approval since 2010. After a well-regarded first year (58 per cent approval on average in 2009), Obama's approval rating dipped to 50 per cent in 2010, then generally held steady, 51 per cent on average approved in 2011, 52 per cent in 2012.
LITTLE LOVE FOR CONGRESS
About 82 per cent of Americans disapproved of the way Congress handled its job this year, according to an average of AP-GfK polls. That's 20 points higher than the average disapproval rate in 2009 and the worst since the inception of the AP-GfK poll in 2008. In a rare show of party unity, disapproval of Congress topped 80 per cent among both Democrats (83 per cent) and Republicans (87 per cent).

THE ECONOMIC BRIGHT SPOT?
One positive note: More now say the economy is in good shape than have at any prior point in Obama's tenure, though the rating remains fairly anemic. Overall, 26 per cent on average described the economy as "good" in this year's polling, up from an average of 23 per cent in 2012, 17 per cent in 2011, 19 per cent in 2010 and an abysmal 11 per cent in 2009.
Still, people don't hold much hope for the economy's prospects. Asked to look ahead a year, 37 per cent of Americans in the December AP-GfK poll said they thought the general economic situation would worsen, while 33 per cent thought it would improve. And while 32 per cent thought the number of unemployed Americans would drop, 36 per cent thought more people would lose jobs than get them in 2014.