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A persistent peculiarity of Joe Biden’s presidency is that, in spite of record job gains and strong economic growth, consumer confidence is low and Biden’s popularity ratings are low.
What is happening, then? Some hints are provided by a recent Federal Reserve analysis of household finances.
According to the Federal Reserve’s annual consumer survey, 72% of respondents indicated they were “at least OK” with their financial situation, which indicates that they were either “doing OK” (39%) or “living comfortably” (33%).
That’s down significantly from 78% in 2021 and equals a low hit in April 2020, although it’s still quite near to the level of 73% in 2022. This percentage of customers who said they were doing “at least OK” was last seen in full year statistics in 2016.
Additionally, voters in this year’s presidential election may decide whether or not they believe that Biden deserves a second term based on the percentage of Americans who feel worse off than they were a few years ago, even if this number increases little.
Consumer perceptions are still shaped by the pandemic.
As previously said, 78% of consumers indicated they were at least OK in 2021, which was the highest level of financial fitness they had recorded in the preceding 11 years. July 2020 had the second-best percentage, at 77%. However, this wasn’t the result of a growing economy.
2020 saw the COVID pandemic at its peak, keeping many Americans cooped up at home. After vaccinations became widely available in 2021, things improved, but the economy didn’t fully bounce back from the COVID blow until much later in 2022.
What else occurred in 2020 and 2021 is listed below: Massive sums of stimulus money were given to Americans in the form of government cheques, business aid, tax reductions for parents, and postponed student loan payments.
