April 23 (Bloomberg) -- Most Americans say they are hopeful about President Barack Obama’s ability to lift them out of tough economic times, polls show.

For the first time in four years, most Americans say they believe the U.S. is going in the right direction, according to an Associated Press-GfK survey. Some of that optimism has translated into a brighter outlook among consumers, a Gallup Organization Inc. survey found.

“We’ve seen movement” in people’s perceptions about the future, said Frank Newport, Gallup’s editor-in-chief. “Any measure we’re putting out there we are seeing go in a more positive than negative direction.”

Still, many Americans say they aren’t happy about the present. Sixty-five percent in the AP-GfK poll said they believe it is difficult for them and their families to get ahead. The latest daily Gallup survey found Americans are spending on average $61 a day, down from $92 a year earlier.

“There are still massive problems out there,” said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc., New York. “There’s still enough pain to go through to correct the excesses of the past.”

At the same time, the improvement in people’s moods is notable, pollsters and economists said. Forty-eight percent said the nation is on the right track and 44 percent said the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction, the AP-GfK poll found.

Toppling Hussein

The last time most Americans were confident about the country’s future was in January 2004 after the capture of deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, according to the AP.

A Pew survey showed that the current optimism is fueled by approval of Obama’s policies and personality. Sixty percent backed the president’s approach to the ailing economy, and 50 percent supported his tax policy.

Although most Republicans disapprove of Obama’s agenda, 46 percent said they had a favorable view of him as a person. That compares with the 38 percent approval rating among Democrats for President George W. Bush in July 2001 and the 32 percent among Republicans for President Bill Clinton in May 1993.

“Obama is more popular than his policies,” said John Fortier, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based policy group. He “has projected a positive, active agenda and has not had major stumbles.”

Following Bush

It doesn’t hurt that Obama is following an unpopular president, Fortier said.

“Democrats and many independents are now optimistic about the country’s direction because of the change in the occupant of the White House,” he said.

Confidence among U.S. consumers has advanced to the highest level since the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings last year pushed the economy deeper into recession, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan survey released last week.

The preliminary index of consumer sentiment rose to 61.9 from 57.3 in March. The index fell to 55.3, a three-decade low, in November.

Economists said the increase this month doesn’t signal that Americans are willing yet to spend on a broad enough scale to power the country out of its greatest postwar recession.

“If you look at overall consumer activity in terms of spending, it’s very restrained,” said Brian Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist at HIS Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts.

That is because the threat of layoffs and stunted economic opportunity is still more powerful than the faith Americans have in the president, pollsters and economists said.

The poll numbers “are up on the basis of hope, not on the basis of people thinking things are materially better,” said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center in Washington.

Surveys show Americans are willing to give Obama some time to fix the economy. The question in coming months will be the extent of their patience, Kohut said.

“The issue is how long hope will last,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Bliss in Washington jbliss@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 23, 2009 13:35 EDT