How worried are Americans about inflation? Poll finds concerns are highest in decades
Unemployment, homelessness, racism – there are many problems facing America today, according to a recent poll.
But roughly one in five people in the U.S. say that inflation is the most important issue facing the country, a Gallup poll published March 29 found.
Concerns around inflation increased significantly from February to March 2022 as the U.S. inflation rate reached its highest level in 40 years.
By comparison, in 2021, only 2% of adults cited inflation as a top public concern, the poll found.
According to Gallup, people in America haven’t been this concerned about inflation since 1985. In the March survey, a majority of adults said they worry “a great deal” about inflation and the economy.
After inflation reached a 40-year high this February, the Federal Reserve announced it would raise interest rates for the first time since 2018. Officials are hoping that the small spike in interest rates might help stabilize the economy, according to previous reporting from McClatchy News.
Similarly, U.S. adults are more worried about gas prices in 2022 than they were last year – with more respondents citing fuel and oil prices as a critical problem facing the country, the poll shows.
These economic worries can be tied with the public’s perception of the U.S. government. Almost a quarter of adults said the government or poor leadership were the most important problems facing the U.S. today.
“Americans’ outlook for the economy is now about tied with the most negative it has been since the early days of the pandemic in April 2020,” the news release said.
In comparison, adults are growing less and less worried about the pandemic, according to the poll. While 20% of respondents said COVID-19 was a key issue for the U.S. in January – only 3% said the same in March.
The poll also found that:
About 9% of adults cited the situation between Russia and Ukraine as a significant problem for the U.S.
Unifying the country, racism and immigration all earned 5% of mentions as main concerns, the poll shows.
Unemployment seems to be the least top-of-mind problem the country faces with only 1% of respondents citing it as a concern in the poll.
The poll was conducted by phone from March 1 to 18 with a random sample of 1,017 adults in the U.S. The results in this poll have a margin of error of more or less 4 percentage points, according to the Gallup release.
This story was originally published March 29, 2022 at 12:14 PM with the headline "How worried are Americans about inflation? Poll finds concerns are highest in decades."
