The economy may be not be the best, but Americans are still optimistic.

A new Harris Poll finds that the vast majority of the public is satisfied with their lives, and that most people believe that their personal situation will improve over the next five years, reports Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive.

The numbers who feel this way are lower today than they were in the last few years, but most Americans are still upbeat and optimistic in spite of the economic tough times and the increase in unemployment, Taylor said.

A majority of Echo Boomers (aged 18-30), and pluralities of Gen X (aged 31-42) and Baby Boomers feel their present situation today is better than it was five years ago, Taylor said.

Only among Matures (aged 62-plus) is there a significant number who feels that their situation has become worse.

Some additional findings include:

- Some 88 percent of all adults are satisfied with their lives, and 54 percent are very satisfied. However, these numbers are lower than in any of the

four other Harris Polls that asked these questions since 2003.

- More people (40 percent) feel that their situation has improved over the last five years than feel it has got worse (27 percent). Still, among older adults, more people feel their situation has become worse (30 percent) than better (20 percent). The 40 percent who feel their situation has improved is lower than it was in any of the four previous surveys.

In 2005, a 56 percent majority felt this way, Taylor said.

- Despite the struggling economy, a 54 percent majority of adults believe their personal situation will improve over the next five years. This is lower than it was in 2005, when 65 percent believed their situation would improve.

- On this question about the future, there are large differences between generations. The question asked was "In the course of the next five years, do you expect your personal situation to improve, to stay about the same or to get worse?"

The older people are, the less likely they are to be optimistic. Some 82 percent of Echo Boomers (aged 18-30) and majorities of Gen X (64 percent) and Baby Boomers (54 percent) believe their situation will improve.

Just 21 percent of Matures believe this.

- Republicans are more likely than Democrats to be very satisfied with their lives (63 percent versus 49 percent) but are less likely to believe that their personal situation will improve in the next five years (52 percent versus 63 percent).

- People with higher incomes are a little more satisfied with their lives, and are much more likely to feel their personal situation has improved in the last five years (52 percent among people with household incomes of $75,000 or more, compared to 32 percent of people with incomes of less than $35,000). However, they are not significantly more optimistic about the next five years than are people with incomes below $50,000 or below $35,000.

Why is this important?

"Many foreign observers of the United States over the last 200 or more years have remarked that Americans seem to be more optimistic than people living in 'the old world,' from which most immigrants came," Taylor said. "This new poll shows that, whatever our current problems are, American optimism is alive and well."