Economic concerns continue to trouble Americans as the country enters the final quarter of 2022, according to a new poll just released by Monmouth University.
The survey by the West Long Branch, New Jersey-based Monmouth shows that 82% of respondents in the poll completed on September 25 regard inflation as “extremely or very important,” followed by 68% who pointed to jobs and unemployment as a priority concern.
The survey was based on more than 800 interviews comprising what Monmouth calls a “probability-based national random sample.”
Some 57% placed the issue of infrastructure as a top concern, while only 32% similarly regarded Covid 19, only the most recent sign of the pandemic’s declining public opinion importance nationally. On year ago, 72% of respondents to a Monmouth poll classified the pandemic as either extremely important or very important.
Asked how important it was for the federal government to address jobs and unemployment issues, a combined 68% said it was either extremely or very important. That result was down from one year ago when 77% similarly responded.
On transportation and energy infrastructure issues, a combined 57% said it was either extremely or very important, down from 65% who said the same thing just weeks before the passage of the big Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The survey also indicated that respondents are for the most part apprehensive, with 74% saying they thought the country was moving in the wrong direction. But those numbers represent an improvement over the 88% who similarly responded in June.
By Garry Boulard
