SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A new poll shows that most Californians are downright gloomy about the state’s economy and very few voters think the job market will improve this year.

The Field Poll released Friday found that 72 percent of California voters say the state is still experiencing bad times. While the figure is down from 88 percent last year, it’s the sixth consecutive year where pessimism runs high.

Six in 10 voters described the state’s unemployment situation as very serious and only one out of three say job opportunities will improve this year.

And 44 percent say they are worse off now than they were last year.

Field interviewed 834 registered voters by telephone from Feb. 5-17. The poll has a sampling margin error rate up to plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.