Making Ends Meet

Three-quarters of Americans in CNBC's latest poll believe they will have to rethink financial choices due to rising prices.

Surging inflation has Americans reconsidering how they spend their money.

The Consumer Price Index, which measures a wide-ranging basket of goods and services, jumped 7.9% in February from 12 months prior. Prices are going up on everything from the food you put on the table to the gas that powers your car.

That’s weighing heavily on people’s minds, with 48% thinking about rising prices all the time, according to a CNBC + Acorns Invest in You survey, conducted by Momentive. The online poll was conducted March 23-24 among a national sample of 3,953 adults.

Three-quarters are worried that higher prices will force them to rethink their financial choices in the coming months, the survey found.

Inflation is costing the average U.S. household an additional $296 per month, according to a Moody’s Analytics analysis. Experts expect it to get worse before it gets better.

Still, there hasn’t been a significant impact on consumer spending, although retail sales grew at a slower pace than expected in February.

The biggest area people have cut back on is dining out, with 53% saying they’ve done so, according to the survey. They are also driving less and canceling monthly subscriptions, among other things.

 

Americans are already acting like we're in a recession. The problem with that is slowed spending could very well bring that about, and even more Americans -- 81% -- now expect a recession this year.

After two years of the coronavirus pandemic, a recession and a rapid recovery, Americans are worried that the economy may swiftly decline once again.

Some 81% of adults said they think the U.S. economy is likely to experience a recession in 2022, according to the CNBC + Acorns Invest in You survey, conducted by Momentive. The online survey of nearly 4,000 adults was conducted from March 23 to 24.

Certain groups are anticipating a potential economic downturn more than others, the survey found. That includes Republicans, who are more likely to think there will be a recession than Democrats, as well as those who see themselves as financially worse off this year than they were last year. 

 

Economists are scratching their heads, as the Biden Boom continues, but Americans, even Democrats, see economic disaster ahead.

I'm no economist, but considering the plurality of Americans believe we've lost millions of jobs under Biden instead of gained and the majority of Americans consider Biden's first year as a complete and total failure, if enough voters believe that this is a recession, they'll vote like it, too.