Majority of Americans Think US Economy Is in Recession and Shrinking, Poll Finds
A majority of Americans believe that the U.S. is currently in a recession, blaming the Biden administration for harsh economic conditions, according to research firm The Harris Poll. Around 56% of people surveyed thought that the U.S. economy was in recession, and 55% thought that the economy was shrinking, according to a poll conducted for The Guardian. U.S. gross domestic product rose just 1.6% in the first quarter of 2024, down substantially from the 3.4% and 4.9% growth rates seen in the fourth and third quarters of 2023, respectively. “What Americans are saying in this data is: ‘Economists may say things are getting better, but we’re not feeling it where I live,’” John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll, told The Guardian. “Unwinding four years of uncertainty takes time. Leaders have to understand this and bring the public along.” Nearly three-fifths of those polled blamed mismanagement from the Biden administration for the current poor state of the economy, and around 72% think that inflation is increasing, according to the survey. The rate of inflation decreased slightly to 3.4% in April from 3.5% in the previous month, far higher than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%. Prices have risen a total of 19.3% since President Joe Biden first took office in January 2021.
According to the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, job growth in '23 was 1.5%, not the 2.0% previously published by BLS - that means the monthly job reports overestimated nonfarm payroll growth by over 770k last year, and that's on top of the downward revisions... pic.twitter.com/hxeCpqF7NG
— E.J. Antoni, Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) May 23, 2024
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