With consumer prices having risen 2 percent in the year through September, one might think that not many Americans are worried about inflation now.
But that’s not the case, according to an election exit poll conducted by NBC News. It found that voters see inflation as the No. 2 economic problem they face, trailing only unemployment.
Of the more than 25,000 voters polled, 38 percent chose unemployment, which totaled 7.9 percent last month, as their biggest economic problem.
Editor's Note: 'It’s Curtains for the US' — Hear Unapologetic Warning from Prophetic Economist.
Then came inflation, named by 37 percent of voters, taxes cited by 14 percent and the housing market by 8 percent.
Voters apparently are more worried about rising prices than the Federal Reserve is. In its latest policy statement last month, the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee said it “anticipates that inflation over the medium term likely would run at or below its 2 percent objective.”
So why are individuals so concerned? It’s because they deal with rising prices daily, Chris Christopher, director of consumer economics for IHS Global Insight, tells NBC.
“It’s a personal question: What affects them directly?” he says.
Most economists side more with the Fed than voters on the inflation issue.
“There isn’t any meaningful risk of short-term core inflation,” Guy LeBas, chief fixed-income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott, tells Bloomberg.
“When it comes to everyday goods and services, the lack of demand just isn’t going to push prices higher.”
Editor's Note: 'It’s Curtains for the US' — Hear Unapologetic Warning from Prophetic Economist.
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