Eighty-three percent of Americans say the economy is either an extremely or very important issue in determining how they will vote in the upcoming midterm elections, according to the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll.
Eighty percent say inflation, which reached a four-decade high in March, is also an extremely or very important factor in how they will vote, while 74% say the same for gas prices, which sits at about $4.82 a gallon nationally.
President Joe Biden’s approval rating on several key issues remains underwater, including his handling of the economic recovery (37%), inflation (28%), and gas prices (27%).
The only positive approval rating Biden gets is from his response to the COVID-19 pandemic: 56% approve, 43% disapprove.
U.S. job growth remained strong in May and American workers took home bigger paychecks last month, but price increases are still outpacing people’s paychecks.
Biden two days ago was optimistic about U.S. employers adding 390,000 jobs in May but did acknowledge Americans are anxious about inflation.
“There’s no denying that high prices, particularly around gasoline and food, are a real problem for people,” he said during remarks in Delaware. “But there’s every reason for the American people to feel confident that we’ll meet these challenges. Because of the enormous progress we’ve made on the economy, the Americans can tackle inflation from a position of strength.”
The poll was conducted from June 3 to June 4 on a nationally representative sample of 542 adults.
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