Americans’ views on their financial situations have become more negative compared to earlier in the year, according to a new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll.
The poll, released Wednesday, found that 46% of adults said “bad” was how they would describe their household’s financial situation. That figure has increased 9 percentage points from March, when 37% called theirs poor.
The percentage who called their financial situation “good” has also declined, dropping to 54% from 63% earlier in the year, according to the poll.
The poll showed views of personal finances among both Republicans and Democrats became increasingly negative. Republicans saw a larger increase in negative sentiment, rising from 41% saying “bad” in March to 53% in October. About 36% of Democrats now describe their financial situations as “bad,” compared to 28% earlier in the year.
Fifty-three percent of independents called their financial situation poor, a 1% decline from March, according to the poll.
Optimism about the national economy also declined in October, the poll found. About 23% of people said they would describe the economy as “very good,” “somewhat good” or “lean toward good,” compared to 29% in the prior month. Between June and September, however, the percentage of people who viewed the economy positively rose 9%.
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of people said they disapprove of how President Joe Biden is handling the economy, according to the October poll.
Consumer inflation has recently been hovering near a 40-year-high.
In August, the Labor Department reported the Consumer Price Index rose 8.3% from the prior year and 0.1% from July. The Personal Consumption Expenditures index, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, went up 6.2% in August from a year ago and 0.3% from July.
On Thursday morning, the Labor Department is scheduled to release September’s CPI, which Refinitiv economists have predicted will have risen 0.3% month-over-month, FOX Business previously reported.
While many respondents expressed disapproval of Biden’s handling of the economy, only 44% blamed his policies for higher than normal prices, the poll showed. Roughly 55% pointed to factors outside his control.
The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll was conducted online and via telephone among over 1,100 adults from Oct. 6 to 10. It had a 3.8% margin of error.
