President Joe Biden has had difficulty getting traction with American voters on the economy, just six weeks before the midterm elections (Nov. 8).
A new ABC News/Washington Post poll reveals that 74% of Americans believe the U.S. economy is in rough shape — potentially a reflection of the Biden administration's economic policies.
Sunday's results also represent a sizable increase from a similar survey in the spring of 2021, when 58% of respondents expressed a negative outlook regarding the American economy.
Within the latest ABC News/Washington poll, which chronicled the thoughts of 1,006 adult respondents over a four-day period (Sept. 18-21), 84% characterized the U.S. economy as a top-level issue.
The same can be said about inflation rates that reached 40-year highs in July. Among those surveyed, 74% ranked inflation as the second-biggest pre-midterms worry.
Abortion rated as the third-highest concern, at 62%.
Ahead of the midterms, the ABC News/Post poll also gave Republicans significant leads in the core handling of the economy (16-point advantage) and inflation (19-point differential). This might not bode well for the Democrats, who currently control the House and Senate chambers by slim margins.
And given the recent downturn with the Dow Jones Industrials Average falling well below 30,000 points, along with the U.S. Federal Reserve raising interest rates, there are now tangible concerns of a recession in America, according to the New York Post.
The Post also reports the Fed lifted its benchmark rate last week, affecting many consumer and business loans, from a range of 3% to 3.25%.
At the start of 2022, the benchmark rate for loans was hovering around 0%. But now, the Fed suggests the same rate could top out at 4.4% by the end of the year.
On Monday, the price of gasoline in America rose for a sixth consecutive day — with a national average of $3.725 per gallon.
At one point during the summer, every state in the union had average gas prices exceeding $4 per gallon, with a handful of states eclipsing the $5/per gallon mark.
The current ABC News/Washington Poll had a margin-of-error rate of 3.5 percentage points.
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