Majority now disapproves of Biden’s handling of economy: Poll

by Zachary Halaschak, Economics Reporter | | October 21

A majority of people disapprove of the way President Joe Biden’s administration has been handling the economy, a new survey found.

A CNBC poll released Thursday found that 54% disapprove of how Biden has dealt with the economy, while just 40% approve. Biden’s disapproval increased by 7 percentage points from July, when the question was asked by the same survey.

Economic anxiety is also on the rise. The poll found that nearly half of people, 47%, think the United States will sink into a recession sometime next year. That number is up 13 points from when it was asked in 2019.

BIDEN BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIGH INFLATION: POLL

The United States is millions of jobs short from where it was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, when the unemployment rate was at an ultra-low 3.5%. While the unemployment rate has been going down in recent months and now rests at 4.8%, some companies have complained that they haven’t been able to attract workers.

The economy is also facing the specter of too-high inflation lingering for months. Inflation rose 5.4% for the year ending September, the highest pace since 2008, the Department of Labor found. Prices also rose at the highest rate in 30 years in the gauge that the Federal Reserve favors.

Of those surveyed, 79% see the state of the economy as in poor or fair condition, and 46% said they believe the economy will only get worse in the year ahead, the highest amount to say so in the 13 years the poll has been conducted. Thirty-one percent of those queried said it is a good time to invest in the stock market, the lowest number to say so in five years.

Biden’s approval rating overall has also suffered.

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In July, the poll found that 48% approved of Biden’s job performance, compared to 45% who disapproved. The latest iteration of the survey, which was conducted in mid-October, showed that Biden’s approval rating plunged to 41% and that a majority, 52%, now disapprove of his job performance.

“If the economy doesn’t get back on track, and the coronavirus doesn’t reverse course at some point soon, then this is a presidency that’s going to be in real trouble,” said Jay Campbell, the survey’s Democratic pollster and a partner at Hart Research Associates.

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