New Polling Shows Americans Are Bracing for a Recession

Katie Pavlich | May 19, 2022 12:15 PM

On Wednesday Wall Street took a nosedive and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down more than 1100 points. Last week inflation numbers revealed the cost of essential items hit new records with no signs of slowing down. The Federal Reserve recently raised interest rates in hopes to slow the inflation crisis, but is expected to be forced into more aggressive measures in the near future. Gasoline prices have also hit new records, averaging nearly $5 per gallon across the country.

According to new polling from Quinnipiac University, all of these factors have Americans bracing for a recession.

The overwhelming majority of Americans (85 percent) think it is either very likely (45 percent) or somewhat likely (40 percent) that there will be an economic recession in the next year, while 12 percent think it is either not so likely (8 percent) or not likely at all (4 percent).
Roughly 1 in 5 Americans (19 percent) say the state of the nation's economy these days is either excellent (2 percent) or good (17 percent), while 4 in 5 Americans (80 percent) say it's either not so good (34 percent) or poor (46 percent). This is Americans' most negative description of the state of the nation's economy in a Quinnipiac University poll since President Biden took office.
When asked how much control a president has over inflation, 29 percent of Americans say a lot and 38 percent say some, while 23 percent say only a little and 10 percent say none at all.

Meanwhile, Biden administration officials are having a hard time communicating on the economy and continue to remain out of touch with challenges facing the average American.