Americans continue to register concern about the nation’s inflation rate, which is at the highest level in decades and continuing to drive up consumer prices. In the latest Economist/YouGov poll, more than three-quarters say the country is “off on the wrong track” when it comes to its current inflation and prices, and 61% say “inflation and prices” are a very important issue to them. That's a greater share than for most of the 14 other issues polled about, trailing only jobs and the economy (66%) — which could also cover inflation — and health care (62%).
Americans are relatively aware of the current inflation rate. More than one-quarter of Americans (28%) say inflation is in a range that includes the current inflation rate (8.3%). The most common answer for the inflation rate's current level is “between 8% and 10%,” while 14% of Americans put inflation between 7% and 8%. About one-quarter (23%) place the inflation rate above 10% and just 16% guess that it’s below 7%.
People who describe inflation as being a very important issue are slightly more likely (33%) to know the current range. Americans who are 45 and older are especially likely to know the correct inflation-rate range, as are Republicans.
Three in five Americans (59%) perceive the inflation rate as having risen over the last month. The year-over-year increase in prices remained relatively stable from March (8.5%) to April (8.3%), with May numbers available in June. April inflation was up from 7.5% in January 2022.
— Taylor Orth and Carl Bialik contributed to this article
This poll was conducted on May 15 - 17, 2022, among 1,500 U.S. adult citizens. Explore more on the methodology and data for this Economist/YouGov poll.
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