Inflation tops list of most urgent issues facing US: poll

Americans in a new survey list inflation as the most urgent issue currently facing the U.S., followed by immigration and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Quinnipiac University Poll survey found that 27 percent of respondents see inflation as the country’s most urgent issue, followed by 12 percent for immigration and 10 percent saying COVID-19.

The U.S. has faced soaring inflation since mid-2021 amid the rebound from the coronavirus recession. Consumer prices rose 7.5 percent annually by the end of January, the highest rate since February 1982, and 0.6 percent in the month alone. 

The view on the issue varies between the political parties.

According to the poll, 36 percent of Republican respondents list inflation as the top priority, with 23 percent saying immigration and 11 percent crime. Independents said relatively the same, with 32 percent listing inflation as the top issue, followed by 10 percent saying immigration and 9 percent saying COVID-19. Nine percent of independents also listed climate change as a top issue. 

As for Democrats, only 13 percent of Democratic respondents said inflation was a top priority. Instead, the poll found 17 percent see climate change as the most urgent issue, followed by 16 percent saying election laws.

The poll also gauged Americans’ views on the current state of the economy. Fifty-nine percent of Americans surveyed said the economy is getting worse, and 25 percent said it remains the same. Only 15 percent said the economy is getting better.

The poll surveyed 1,321 U.S. adults between Feb. 10 and 14. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.