A majority of Americans blame the Biden administration’s policies for rising inflation, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll released on Wednesday.
In answer to the question “to what extent” do they think “the Biden administration’s policies” are responsible for rising inflation, 62 percent of respondents blamed the administration’s policies. Of those, 40 percent of respondents said those policies are “very responsible” for inflation while 22 percent said “somewhat responsible.”
Just 10 percent of respondents said the Biden administration was not responsible “at all” for inflation, while 18 percent said the administration was “not too responsible.”
Additionally, 58 percent of respondents said they were “very concerned” about rising inflation, while another 31 percent said they were “somewhat concerned.”
The survey was conducted from October 16-18 among 1,998 registered voters, with a two-point margin of error.
The survey comes after the Labor Department found that consumer prices rose 5.4 percent in September compared with the same month in 2020. Consumer prices rose 5.3 percent over the previous year in August and 5.4 percent over the previous year in July, marking the highest yearly increase in prices since 2008.
The rise in inflation comes amid increased demand for goods and services and global supply-chain shocks, along with a labor shortage in the U.S. with 10.4 million open jobs as of August. Biden administration officials have repeatedly claimed that any inflation experienced as the economy starts up again in the wake of pandemic lockdowns will be temporary.
“There’s nobody suggesting there’s unchecked inflation on the way—no serious economist,” President Biden said in July.