A new poll finds more New Jerseyans becoming optimistic about the direction of the state. In the Fairleigh Dickinson / PublicMind poll out Wednesday, 42 percent of residents say the state is on the right track. That’s up 7 percent since May. The number of pessimists is down. Forty-eight percent say the state is going in the wrong direction. That’s down 7 percent from May.

Sixty percent say they prefer less government spending to higher taxes, even if programs have to be cut.

About 47 percent approve of the performance of Gov. Chris Christie, while 36 percent disapprove.

The telephone poll of 801 registered voters was taken July 27-Aug. 2 and has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. AP