Democratic plans to win a second consecutive term in the White House were pinned, in part, on the hope that the economy would not be as big an issue in this election as inflation faded, allowing issues on which Democrats poll better to take precedence.
That has not worked out.
When the year started, thirty-four percent of Americans named economic issues as the most important, including 21 percent who named the economy generally and 13 percent who specifically cited inflation, according to polling from Gallup.
Many Democrats thought that inflation would slow, diminishing public concerns over the cost of living.
Inflation, however, has barely budged. The three-month annualized rate of vote inflation through December of 2023 was 3.3 percent. Through September of this year, it was 3.1 percent. Meanwhile, unemployment has climbed from 3.7 percent to 4.1 and the public’s perception of the labor market is considerably worse, with the share of the public saying it is a good time to find a quality job falling from 55 percent in January to 44 percent in September.
Not surprisingly, the public’s feelings about the economy are also still in the doldrums. The Gallup economic confidence index is at -26, exactly where it was in January. And the share of the public naming economic issues as the most important is also unchanged, with 21 percent naming the economy generally and 14 percent pointing to inflation.
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