President Joe Biden’s approval rating fell to 30% in a new poll, the worst number of his presidency and far below the lowest numbers of his two predecessors in the Oval Office.
And, a bad sign for the Democrats, CNBC All America Survey‘s shows a deeply pessimistic outlook on the economy from voters, with 52% believing things will get worse before the end of the year and at least 60% expecting a recession.
Soaring food, grocery and housing prices have led to a loss of confidence in the economy, which in turn has rattled Biden’s approval ratings and poses a major political threat to Democrats in November’s congressional elections.
Biden’s approval rating of 30% was well below that donald trump‘s lowest number – 41% – and Barack Obama‘s lowest – 37%. Biden’s average approval rating is 38.6%, according to the RealClearPolitics average.
Voters have consistently given Biden low marks for the economy, and CNBC’s All-American Survey showed a similar pattern.
The poll found that inflation is voters’ top concern. inflation in the US rose to 9.1 percent in June, the highest since 1981 and a larger increase than economists had predicted.
And it’s by far the top issue in voters’ minds.
In the CNBC poll, inflation got more than twice as many votes as the next answer: abortion.
President Joe Biden’s approval hits new low of 30% in new CNBC All-American Survey
Joe Biden’s approval rating of 30% was well below Donald Trump’s lowest number – 41% – and Barack Obama’s lowest – 37%.
This is another worrying sign for Democrats, who had hoped to overthrow Roe v. Wade through the Supreme Court as a vehicle to rally voters this fall.
Republicans are being favored to win control of the House – and possibly the Senate – when voters go to the polls in November.
The CNBC poll found voters prefer control by the Republican Congress by a 44% to 42% margin, but that gap has actually narrowed from a 10-point gap in the previous poll. Republicans lead the general congressional vote by 2 points RealClearPolitics average.
pollsters said CNBC that Congressional control number can be attributed to abortion returning as an issue on the national stage – a sign Democrats were right to use it as a rallying cry.
But pollsters were also skeptical that abortion would remain a top issue, especially when the economy worsened.
US inflation rose to 9.1 percent in June, the highest since 1981 and better than economists had forecast
About 47.5% of economists believe the economy is headed for a recession, according to a new Bloomberg poll released on Friday.
Several economists interviewed by the New York Times Last month the odds of a recession were rated as “uncomfortably high”.
Biden has maintained an optimistic stance. He told the Associated Press in an interview last month that a recession was “not inevitable.”
But he conceded that “people are really, really down.”
However, he attributed this to the Covid pandemic and the exposure to sunlight it required.
“Their mental health needs in America have skyrocketed because people saw everything upset,” Biden said. “Everything they counted on is upset. But most of it is the result of what happened, what happened as a result of the COVID crisis.
There were some signs of improvement.
Gas prices, for example, fell from a staggering $5 a gallon in mid-June to a nationwide average of $4,521 on Monday — still far higher than a year ago, but a drop that could help slow inflation for July and possibly August .
But Americans are making cuts as prices of staple foods have soared, including meat and poultry prices up 10.4%, grains up 15.1% and fruits and vegetables up 8.1% .
Clothing costs increased by 5.2%, total accommodation costs increased by 5.5% and delivery services increased by an average of 14.4%.
The CNBC poll found that 65% of respondents said they cut down on entertainment such as eating out or going to a concert.
And more than 4 in 10 spend less on groceries.
