• Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA
  • Disclaimer
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
News Zents
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Fintech
  • Finance
  • Insurance
  • Market
  • Startups
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Fintech
  • Finance
  • Insurance
  • Market
  • Startups
News Zents
No Result
View All Result
Home Economy

Consumer confidence is near its lowest in a decade, and that could be a problem for Biden

News Zents by News Zents
November 8, 2022
0


US President Joe Biden speaks during a DNC rally in Miami Gardens, Florida, US, on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022.

Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Anxiety over the cost of living and the direction of the economy could prove costly to President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats in Tuesday’s election.

Recent surveys show consumer sentiment has risen only modestly and remains well below where it was a year ago, when inflation worries first began to grip policymakers, shoppers and business executives.

A report released Friday outlined the problem for Washington’s current ruling party. The University of Michigan, which releases a closely watched sentiment survey each month, asked respondents who they trusted more when it came to the economy and which would better for personal finances.

The result: overwhelmingly Republican.

The survey of 1,201 respondents saw Republicans with a 37%-21% edge on the question of which party is better for the economy. While that left a wide swath — 37% — of consumers who don’t think it makes a difference, the disparity of those with a preference is huge. (The survey did not distinguish whether respondents were likely voters.)

In fact, among all demographics, the only one in the Democrats’ favor was the sole party group. Whether it was age, household income or education, all other groups favored the GOP.

On overall sentiment, the Michigan survey saw a reading of 59.9 for October, 2.2% better than September but 16.5% below the same period a year ago. The reading is just off its all-time low in June 2022 and is running close to its lowest level in more than 11 years, according to data that goes back to 1978.

“It’s a huge problem” for Democrats, said Greg Valliere, chief U.S. policy strategist at AGF Investments, who specializes on the impact of politics on the financial markets. “They’ve seen enough evidence since Labor Day showing how the economy dwarfs every other issue, but they didn’t do anything about it. They didn’t say the right thing, they didn’t show enough empathy. To me, this was a really sorry performance.”

Valliere thinks the issue could get so large that Biden may have to announce soon that he will not seek a second term in 2024.

“I think the Democrats have a lot of problems right now,” he added.

Consumer confidence also hit an all-time low on housing, with just 16% of respondents saying they think now is a good time to buy, according to a Fannie Mae survey that goes back to 2011.

Those types of readings have not boded well for the party in power.

Former President Donald Trump lost his bid for reelection in 2020 when the Michigan poll was just above its early Coronavirus pandemic low. Conversely, Barack Obama won reelection in 2012 when the survey was riding a five-year high. George W. Bush captured his bid for a second term in 2004 when sentiment was middling, but Bill Clinton triumphed in 1996 when the Michigan gauge was at a 10-year high.

As for congressional control, in the 2010 midterm election, when the Obama-Biden administration lost a stunning 63 House seats, the biggest rout since 1948, the reading was at 71.6. That was only narrowly better than the year before when the economy was still climbing out of the financial crisis.

Today, the public is particularly anxious about inflation.

After declining for two months in a row, October’s one-year inflation outlook stood at 5%, up 0.3 percentage point from September and the highest reading since July. The five-year outlook also rose, up to 2.9%, and tied for the highest level since June.

The University of Michigan survey also found respondents had more trust in Republicans when it came to the fate of their personal finances.

The GOP held a 15-point lead against Democrats in that category, including a 19-point edge among independents.

The survey showed expectations running high that Republicans will prevail in Tuesday’s election and wrest control of Congress back from Democrats.

On both the general economy and personal finance questions, Republicans did far better among those holding a high school diploma or less, with a 25-point edge in both questions. Those holding a college degree gave the GOP an 8-point edge on the economy and a 10-point advantage on personal finances.

Tags: BidenconfidenceConsumerDecadelowestproblem
Advertisement Banner
News Zents

News Zents

Next Post

IDFC First Bank: IDFC First Bank's transformation to retail complete; NPA woes behind, says CEO V Vaidyanathan

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

UK’s Hunt faces triple threat from debt, recession and Conservative rebels By Reuters

October 25, 2022

Shyft Non-GAAP EPS of $0.53 beats by $0.09, revenue of $286.1M misses by $4.3M (NASDAQ:SHYF)

October 27, 2022

Stock Market Outlook on 28 October: From Nifty50, Nifty Bank support levels to intraday pick – Watch out for these triggers

October 27, 2022

Rishi Sunak announces bid to become U.K.’s next prime minister: ‘I want to fix our economy’

October 23, 2022

How American Airlines’ New Instant Status Pass Works

October 17, 2022

Bank Earnings Show Consumers’ Increased Digital Use

October 15, 2022

Recent News

Ron DeSantis and the War on Wokeness

January 28, 2023

Top U.S. Treasury official to warn UAE, Turkey over sanctions evasion By Reuters

January 28, 2023

Categories

  • Business
  • Economy
  • Finance
  • Fintech
  • Insurance
  • Market
  • Regulation
  • Startups
  • Uncategorized

This is an online news portal designed to provide the latest market news, world news, fintech, and more like that from around the world. We are committed to sharing only high-quality content from the world's best trusted sources.

  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA
  • Disclaimer
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2015 - 2022 Newszents - All contents Copyright Newszents. All rights reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Finance
  • Fintech
  • Insurance
  • Market
  • Startups

© 2015 - 2022 Newszents - All contents Copyright Newszents. All rights reserved