protest
Minneapolis police move in to detain protesters participating in a Black Lives Matter Minnesota march protesting the police shooting death of Philando Castile with members of the American Teachers Federation, Minneapolis teachers union and St Paul teachers union leading to 21 arrests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 19, 2016. Reuters/Adam Bettcher

Americans aren't happy with the state of affairs in the United States. New data from Gallup showed satisfaction with the U.S. drop 12 percentage points in the last month.

Just 17 percent of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S, according to the July data. For the mathematically averse, satisfaction stood at 29 percent in June. The news comes amid a tumultuous time for the country, with "high-profile police killings of black men and mass shootings of police," Gallup noted. Dating back to 2001, when Gallup began tracking satisfaction on a monthly basis, the 12-point drop is tied for the highest-ever month-to-month decrease. The last time such a drop happened was during the onset of the Great Recession in 2008.

Satisfaction hasn't been this low since October 2013, when Republican members of Congress led a federal government shutdown. Satisfaction has been in the mid-20s and 30s for the past two years, dipping as low as 20 percent but not into the teens.

Gallup noted that it has been a particularly dark and deadly time for the U.S. between the June and July survey, which was carried out July 13-17. Police shot and killed black men in Louisiana and Minnesota, then five police officers were targeted and killed by a shooter in Dallas during a protest. There was also the devastation in Orlando, where a gunman killed 49 people in the gay nightclub Pulse.

The July poll found that Americans are increasingly worried about racism. Eighteen percent of respondents said race relations or racism is the top issue the nation is facing. That was a 13-percentage point month-to-month increase.

Wrote Gallup:

"Racial strife, epitomized in the recent police shootings and shootings of police, and highlighted in ongoing protests, appears to have ignited new concerns about the state of the U.S." ​

Gallup surveyed a random sample of 1,023 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The margin of error is plus or minus four percentage points. Other recent polls have shown race relations is increasingly a concern in the U.S. A recent ABC-Washington Post poll found some six in ten adults think race relations are generally bad.

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