Half of Americans surveyed in a recent Gallup poll said their financial situation is worse today than a year ago.

The pollsters say it’s the most negative reading since the Great Recession.

Another reported only 10% of US adults say they have high confidence in the nation’s banks and other financial institutions.

This comes on the heels of stunning bank failures, creeping inflation under attack by Federal Reserve policies that are giving Wall Street the vapors, unprecedented tech-sector layoffs and a dramatic reminder that cryptocurrency is still nothing more than a series of digital ones and zeros.

Does all this mean America is no longer a nation of opportunity?

Is the era of people from around the globe coming to our shores — with their work ethic, ideas and a fundamental faith in themselves and our country — over? 

While the financial headlines suggest the “bears” have us on the run, I would argue that opportunity powered by a free and competitive business environment remains the unbreakable cornerstone of America’s future.

This entrepreneur and author has personal experience with the power of America.

Born on the Greek island of Nisyros, I was 6 months old when my family immigrated to New York City, settling in Harlem. 

I began working at age 14 making keys and mixing paint in a hardware store for 90 cents an hour. 

I wanted to take driving lessons then, but they were $28 an hour, an inconceivable amount of money.

The power of being an entrepreneur in my adopted homeland became immediately apparent to me.

I could have followed a different career than the course I ultimately chose.

Working nights in a grocery store, I studied engineering at New York University but, six credits short, I left to answer a far more powerful calling: opportunity.

My eggman, Aaron Goldberg, told me about an empty store down the block on 87th Street. 

I bought it, and it became my first supermarket.

Thankful for my opportunity in a nation that welcomes hard work, I wanted a corporate name as American as apple pie. I decided to call it Red Apple. 

Hard work over the next five years led to 10 stores and, much to my quiet amazement, the discovery I had become a millionaire at the age of 25.

To me failure was never an option. 

I knew I was responsible for my own future and my own destiny because in America the horizon is only limited by your own vision.

I seized the opportunity to grow and learn. Success breeds success and confidence.

With every successful venture, I became more willing to seek other challenges in different sectors and industries.

Those Americans who have lost faith in this land of opportunity need to appreciate that every person’s career roadmap is unique.

But there are basic building blocks applicable to every entrepreneur.

If you want to succeed, you have to be innovative and set goals.

When I started in the grocery-store business, for example, I decided to open the stores on Sundays to be more competitive.

That decision was a huge success and a defining moment for Red Apple.

You need to seek out multiple mentors who are successful and will give guidance and advice that will make a difference in your life.

In building those relationships, seek allies in unexpected places and propose mutually beneficial ideas.

Remember to treat customers, suppliers and business associates with respect and gratitude, regardless of their position in life.

Make sure you have proper management and a solid financial structure, so you can move to yet another business opportunity secure in the knowledge you have left your original business properly managed.

That requires you to hire people who know more than you do and inspire them to do their jobs.

I remain an unabashed cheerleader of American capitalism: It still provides the newly arrived immigrant and the Mayflower descendant with an equal opportunity to achieve wealth even at a time when banks are stressed and Wall Street remains a daily roller coaster.

I devoutly believe in America and the entrepreneur who powers the economy, sparks innovation and creates jobs for those who seek their share in the American dream.

The financial headlines can proclaim what they will — my money is on the future of America.

John Catsimatidis is CEO of Red Apple Group, which operates New York’s Gristedes grocery chain, and author of “How Far Do You Want to Go?”