Only 14% of American voters believe that their financial situation is better now than when Joe Biden took office as US President. This could undermine his prospects for re-election to a second term.
The Financial Times reports this.
The poll found that nearly 70% of voters believe Biden's economic policies have either hurt the U.S. economy or had no impact, including 33% who said they believe the president's policies have “very hurt the economy.” Only 26% said his policies helped.
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A similar poll carried out for the FT four years ago found that a majority of Americans believed their financial situation had not improved under then-President Donald Trump, but their pessimism was much less pronounced. In November 2019, only 35% of voters thought they were better off under Trump, while 31% said they were worse off.
New polling results showed that inflation continues to overshadow the Biden campaign's efforts to convince voters of the president's strategy to rejuvenate the nation's manufacturing sector and reverse years of stagnant middle-class wages.
When asked what their biggest source of financial stress was, 82% of respondents said rising prices. Three-quarters of respondents said rising prices pose the most significant threat to the U.S. economy over the next six months.
— All groups—Democrats, Republicans and Independents—call rising prices the biggest economic threat… and the biggest source of financial stress. That's bad news for Biden, especially since there's little he can do before Election Day to change the situation, said Michigan Ross School professor Eric Gordon.
Rising prices have been a persistent problem during Biden's three years in office, and while inflation has fallen from last year's annual peak of 9.1%, the latest official data shows the consumer price index rose 3.7% year-on-year in September. year-ago period, well above the Federal Reserve's 2% target.
In response to inflation pressures, 65% of voters said they cut back on spending on non-essential items such as vacations or eating out, and 52% said they cut back on spending on food or other daily necessities.
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— The downturn on the White House's economic numbers comes despite record job growth and nearly three years of economic expansion under Biden. The president's political allies believe voters can still be won over as the campaign gains momentum and more Americans watch his record closely.
At the same time, more than half of survey respondents—52%—said they had heard “little” or “nothing” about what the president is doing to improve the economy.
Earlier, the NYT reported that Biden risks receiving less support in the election due to his position on the war between Israel and Hamas.
