Heading into the holidays still faced with high prices at the pump and in stores and supply chain problems, two-thirds of Utahns disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of the US economy.
A new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll also shows that the president’s overall approval rating among Utah voters remains below 40%, where it has remained since rising to 29 before his first State of the Union address last February % has decreased.
In its November report, the Joint Economic Committee, whose senior member is Sen. Mike Lee of R-Utah, said the US economy faces an uncertain short-term future.
“As we move into the holiday season, the slowdown in the job market does not bode well for the millions of Americans who are struggling to make ends meet. The rapid price hikes of the past two years will make this Christmas by far the most expensive we’ve seen,” Lee said in a statement.
“Given that reckless spending led to skyrocketing prices in the first place, it would be irresponsible for Congress to continue reckless spending this holiday season and compound the inflation problem.”
Last week, Biden tried to reassure Americans that shelves will be restocked this holiday season despite problems with global supply chains and that his administration is “using every tool available” to bring down high consumer prices, according to CNN.
“If you’ve been watching the news recently, you might be thinking that the shelves in all our stores across the country are empty, that parents can’t get gifts for their kids this holiday season,” Biden said. “But here’s the deal: For the vast majority of the country, that’s not happening.”
The poll shows that 32.5% of Utahns approve of the president’s performance on the economy, while 65.8% disagree, including nearly half who strongly disagree. The numbers are slightly worse than a Deseret News/Hinckley poll in October.
Biden’s disapproval rate for the economy jumps to 78.2% among those in the poll who identified as Republicans. Conversely, 76.8% of self-proclaimed Democrats say the president is doing a good job.
Also last week, Biden urged Congress to pass legislation to avert a rail strike that he said had devastated millions of families and union workers across many industries.
“Our economy is growing and inflation is falling, and this rail deal will continue our progress in building a bottom-up and middle economy,” the president said in a statement.
As for Biden’s job performance overall, 38.4% of Utahns agree and 59.5% disagree.
In the poll, 87.9% of Democrats approve of the work Biden is doing, while 73.3% of Republicans oppose it.
While conservatives overwhelmingly disapprove of the president’s job performance and liberals overwhelmingly approve, moderate voters are more evenly split, according to the poll.
Of those in the middle, 50.4% agree and 47.2% disagree.
Dan Jones & Associates conducted the poll of 802 registered voters in Utah November 18-23. It has an error rate of plus or minus 3.46 percentage points.
Overall, Utahns give Biden lower marks than Americans. As of Monday, Biden had a 41.6% approval rating and 53.1% dissent, according to the FiveThirtyEight poll average nationwide.
A HarrisX national poll conducted for the Deseret News last week showed that while Biden and former President Donald Trump are still viewed as leaders of their parties, a majority of voters say both Democrats and Republicans should move on and look for new leadership.
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