President Donald Trump, in speech after speech, insists that the U.S. economy has never been better. Yet numerous polls are showing widespread dissatisfaction with his second presidency. And according to CNN, Americans are in a relentlessly “sour mood” that is showing no signs of improving.
Five CNN reporters — Jennifer Agiesta, Annette Choi, Ariel Edwards-Levy, Edward Wu, and David Goldman — find that much of the country’s widespread pessimism is connected to the economy, especially inflation.
“Those negative feelings about the economy, with major political implications for the midterms, reflect the strain across economic, generational and partisan lines on Americans’ everyday lives,” they explain. “Many people are trimming their grocery lists and cutting back spending on extras, and few feel comfortably able to save.”
A new CNN/SSRS poll finds that almost 70 percent of Americans fear a recession is likely in the next year.
“Middle-income and lower-income Americans’ wages stopped outpacing inflation last year, according to Bank of America,” the CNN journalists report. “That’s left many Americans in a sour mood about their financial prospects. The public has held a negative view of the economy for five straight years in CNN’s polling. There’s a near-universal sense that the current economic moment is a better time to save than to spend on major purchases: Eighty-eight percent feel that way, including more than 8 in 10 across income brackets…. Americans from all backgrounds name cost of living as their primary financial concern in an open-ended question.”
A Georgia Republican in his twenties laments that home ownership is a steep uphill climb for Generation Z, telling CNN, “I don’t know how anyone from my generation will ever do anything except rent.”
An Arkansas-based Democrat in his thirties described his situation as “two full-time jobs and can barely cover bills, let alone even think about getting ahead.”