Poll: Economy and inflation still top concerns among Minnesotans, who also say the country is “on the wrong track.”

WASHINGTON – Minnesotans are far more concerned about inflation and the rising cost of living than the possibility of a woman's right to an abortion being taken away, according to a new report Survey by MinnPost/Embold Research.

That's bad news for President Joe Biden and other Democrats who support abortion rights, and good news for Republicans who blame Biden for the rise in inflation after the pandemic.

The poll also showed that 80% of Minnesotans said “things in this country” are “on the wrong track,” with women and older Americans slightly more optimistic about the country's future than men and younger Minnesotans.

Embold Research pollster Ben Greenfield said other polls showed growing negativity about the country's direction.

“In our 2022 MinnPost poll, nearly all Republicans expressed themselves negatively, and they continue to do so; What has changed is that only 40% of Democrats believe the country is heading in the right direction, down from 56% last year,” Greenfield said.

Democrats' growing discontent, Greenfield said, is “a feeling that some of the country's major problems are not being solved” and “a growing feeling that Joe Biden is not up to the challenge of solving those problems.”

The survey also shows that respondents are more positive when asked about the direction Minnesota is headed. 48 percent said the state was going in the “right direction,” while 52 percent said the state was going in the “wrong direction.”

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Views of how Minnesota is faring were largely determined by a survey respondent's political party affiliation. Ninety percent of state Democrats surveyed said the state was heading in the right direction, while 94 percent of those who identified as Republicans said Minnesota was heading in the wrong direction.

One problem for Biden and the DFL is that 63% of Minnesotans who said they were independent and unaffiliated with a political party said the state was headed in the wrong direction.

Still, respondents overall believe the country is doing worse than Minnesota.

Louis Johnston

This is likely a result of Minnesota's stronger-than-average economy and the state's below-average inflation and unemployment rates, said Louis Johnston, an economics professor at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University.

For example, the national unemployment rate was 3.9% in October and 3.2% in Minnesota. Inflation was 3.2% nationally in October and 2.9% in Minnesota and other Midwestern states, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Minnesota residents say their income is lagging

As inflation cools, rising prices are top of mind for Minnesotans.

When asked which issues were a top priority, 60% of respondents cited the rising cost of food and gasoline and 40% said overturning Roe v. Wade through the Supreme Court and the possibility that state governments would ban abortions.

Respondents were asked to select four high priority topics. After rising food and gas costs and the Supreme Court's abortion decision, Minnesotans cited taxes (39%), immigration (39%), housing costs (36%), gun violence (34%), violent crime (31%). ) and violence from political extremists and insurgents (31%) are the top concerns.

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The other top priorities were election security and voter fraud (29%), gun rights (28%), extreme weather events and climate change (27%), teaching LGTBQ issues in public schools (23%), China taking over US jobs (15%). ) and the costs of childcare (12%).

At the end of the list, only 10% of respondents said the lack of good jobs in their community was a top concern.

A MinnPost/Embold Research survey conducted in October 2022 found similar results. 61 percent of respondents cited inflation as their top priority and 43 percent cited access to abortion services.

Despite the strong job market and other indicators of a healthy economy, the economy and inflation were also cited as top concerns in national surveys.

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One reason for the interruption is the persistently high costs of gasoline and food. For example, food purchased for home use is 25% more expensive than in February 2020.

Johnson said the same thing that has led to higher wages and robust employment – massive government spending during the pandemic under both the Trump and Biden administrations – has fueled inflation.

“We decided during the pandemic to put money in people’s pockets,” Johnston said. “That led to inflation, but also created jobs.”

The MinnPost/Embold Research poll also found that rural Minnesotans (65%) are more likely to say inflation is a bigger problem than suburban Minnesotans (59%) and urban Minnesotans (56%). In the 2022 survey, 50% of urban Minnesotans said inflation was a concern.

Johnston said that's because rural populations drive more cars and are more likely to use more petroleum-based energy in their businesses and businesses.

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“The more energy intensive the sector of the economy, the more inflation will be felt,” he said.

A large majority, 72%, of respondents said their income falls short of the cost of living, 22% said it stays the same as the cost of living, and only 3% said it exceeds the cost of living. There was no change in this question from the 2022 survey.

According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, prices rose significantly more than wages from March 2021 to February this year. But in February 2022, wages began to rise sharply and a year later they caught up with the speed of price increases.

Johnston said many Americans, including those who live in Minnesota, don't consider raises or other income increases when they experience sticker shock. Nor are they mollified by the fact that inflation is easing and approaching the Federal Reserve's target annual rate of 2%.

“People don’t care about the speed at which prices go up,” he said. “People compare what something cost last year to what it costs this year.”

The MinnPost/Embold Research poll surveyed 1,519 likely Minnesota voters Nov. 14-17. The error rate was +/- 2.6 percentage points.

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