Most say federal government doing too little to fix inflation, supply chain: poll

A majority of Americans say the federal government is doing too little to fix supply chain issues and reduce inflation, according to a poll published on Wednesday.

A CNN poll conducted by market research firm SSRS found 70 percent of respondents believe the federal government is doing too little to relieve supply chain issues. The poll also found that 72 percent felt similarly in regard to reducing inflation.

Comparatively, 25 percent of respondents felt that the government was doing the right amount to tackle supply chain issues, and 22 percent said the same for reducing inflation.

A majority of those polled also said a number of things were major problems for the nation’s economy, including rising costs of food and other goods (80 percent), supply chain disruptions (79 percent), rising costs of housing (77 percent), rising gas prices (70 percent) and labor shortages (67 percent).

The poll found 57 percent of respondents said the economic news they had read or heard about lately was mostly bad, compared to 19 percent who said the economic news they had heard recently was mostly good. About 23 percent said they had not heard or read much about the economy recently.

CNN’s poll also showed that Americans had a pessimistic view about the status of current economic conditions in the country. About 37 percent of those polled said they would rate current economic conditions as “good,” compared to 63 percent who rated them “poor.”

The poll comes as Americans are seeing rising prices for goods and services. A Yahoo News-YouGov survey published last month found that over three-fourths of Americans polled found inflation was affecting them personally. 

Though some Americans have seen wage increases, especially in the service sector amid contract negotiations and the pressure for companies to stay competitive, it has not stopped labor shortages and supply chain disruptions from hitting people’s pockets. 

The CNN poll was conducted between Dec. 8 and Dec. 12 and surveyed 1,256 adults. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.7 percentage points with a 95 percent confidence level.