{"id":17291,"date":"2022-11-09T10:28:45","date_gmt":"2022-11-09T06:28:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/geworld.ge\/en\/?p=17291"},"modified":"2022-11-25T09:21:58","modified_gmt":"2022-11-25T05:21:58","slug":"consumer-confidence-is-near-its-lowest-in-a-decade-and-that-could-be-a-problem-for-biden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geworld.ge\/en\/consumer-confidence-is-near-its-lowest-in-a-decade-and-that-could-be-a-problem-for-biden\/","title":{"rendered":"Consumer confidence is near its lowest in a decade, and that could be a problem for Biden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Anxiety over the cost of living and the direction of the economy could prove costly to President Joe Biden<\/a> and his fellow Democrats in Tuesday\u2019s election.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A report released Friday<\/a> outlined the problem for Washington\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result: overwhelmingly Republican.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2014 37% \u2014 of consumers who don\u2019t think it makes a difference, the disparity of those with a preference is huge. (The survey did not distinguish whether respondents were likely voters.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which political party is better at handling the national economy and issues of personal finance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE NATIONAL ECONOMY<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/wTTvQ\/1\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PERSONAL FINANCE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/6Klwo\/1\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: Data as of Nov. 4, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chart: Gabriel Cortes \/ CNBC<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, among all demographics, the only one in the Democrats\u2019 favor was the sole party group. Whether it was age, household income or education, all other groups favored the GOP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On overall sentiment, the Michigan survey saw a reading of 59.9 for October<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge problem\u201d for Democrats, said Greg Valliere, chief U.S. policy strategist at AGF Investments, who specializes on the impact of politics on the financial markets. \u201cThey\u2019ve seen enough evidence since Labor Day showing how the economy dwarfs every other issue, but they didn\u2019t do anything about it. They didn\u2019t say the right thing, they didn\u2019t show enough empathy. To me, this was a really sorry performance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the Democrats have a lot of problems right now,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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