Regarding being worse.
Worse is not homogeneous. There are parts of the country doing fairly well and parts that remain in trouble. The economic problems are not uniform across the country.
The polls in question assume America is economically uniform. That means the statistics generated in the poll are not all that meaningful. The variance can result from where the calls by the pollsters are made. A few more to the troubled area can produce a down turn but still not reflect the true feeling across the country.
The poll is garbage. The poll is an attempt to create numbers that can be transformed into meaningful news.
Very few, and quite small pockets of the country are doing OK, some even good. The Dakotas with the energy boom and DC with 40% of all the GDP to waste as they see fit.
Beyond that, even Texas is just OK, it is only in comparison to the rest of the country that it looks to be booming.
We have a serious problem in the economy, those who are not insulated by wealth, extremely specialized skills, or a government job know this. That is about 70% of the country, hence the poll.