WASHINGTON (AP) – People are skeptical about the economy despite recent encouraging signs, with worries about the costs of gas, heating oil and health care.

Views of the economy show sharp partisan differences, with Republicans far more likely to be optimistic than either Democrats or independents, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

“There’s not as much economic optimism as might be warranted by hard economic indicators,” said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, said Tuesday. “I was surprised by the growing gap between the way Republicans and the rest of the public see the national economy.”

About a third, 34 percent, said economic conditions today are excellent or good, while 64 percent said only fair or poor. That’s up slightly from the 25 percent who said in October that economic conditions are excellent or good, but down slightly from 39 percent who felt that way right after Bush was re-elected.

The economy turned in a solid performance in 2005 despite devastating hurricanes and high energy prices. Employers added 2 million new jobs last year, and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 percent in December.

Economists believe that growth will slow slightly this year under the impact of still-high energy costs and rising interest rates. Higher mortgage rates are expected to cool off the housing market, which has been a major source of strength.

More than half of Republicans, 56 percent, said economic conditions are excellent or good, while 28 percent of independents and 23 percent of Democrats felt that way.

Those differing views may be influenced by how Democrats and independents view the intent of the Bush economic agenda, Kohut said. Some critics say Bush’s economic policies are more beneficial to the wealthy and to big business.

During the Clinton administration, Democrats and Republicans had more similar views of how the economy was doing, with optimism soaring for both groups during his second term in the late 1990s.

When asked recently about their leading economic concerns, eight in 10 cite gas prices as a big problem, with 43 percent saying gas prices are a “very big” problem. About the same number see the cost of home heating fuel and health care as a big problem.

The poll of 1,503 adults was conducted Jan. 4-8 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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On the Net:

Pew Research Center: http://www.people-press.org

AP-ES-01-24-06 1439EST