Bummer: People More Worried About Inflation Despite “Historic” Job Gains

It doesn’t matter if someone is filling the job that was lost during the last 2 years of COVID lockdowns and rules and such if the prices are rising faster than earnings. This is apparently a big problem for Biden and the elected Democrats than the people experiencing inflation

Biden’s mounting midterm threat: Inflation angst outweighing historic job growth

Biden Brain SuckerDemocrats once expected a thriving post-Covid economy to be their big strength heading into the midterms. Instead, the path to Election Day is littered with land mines for a party struggling to avoid annihilation at the ballot box.

President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers face the threat of spiraling inflation, driven by soaring food, energy and lodging costs. The Federal Reserve is embarking on an aggressive series of interest rate hikes — as many as seven this year alone — to curb rising prices and slow the economy. The war in Ukraine is further disturbing supply chains, roiling commodities markets and fueling uncertainty. Add in a new wave of Covid lockdowns in China that could bring more disruptions to trade and you’ve got a toxic mix.

Polls show some two-thirds of Americans view the country as being on the wrong track. Biden’s disapproval rating on the economy stands at 58 percent, while Republicans have a 54-35 percent lead on the issue. And the widely watched University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey recently fell to its lowest level in more than a decade.

Incumbent parties usually lose House and Senate seats in off-year elections, but turning these attitudes around could be the difference between Democrats taking average losses this fall or getting punched out like they did in 1994. And administration officials are increasingly concerned about the economy as a heavy drag in the midterms, according to several allies.

See? That’s what they’re really concerned about, losing elections, not the peasants serving them in the U.S. It’s their own fault for passing shading, counter-productive legislation, for bringing counter-productive legislation up, for Brandon signing EOs that hurt not help, and for discussing doing things that hurt not help.

“The mood is just shockingly bad inside and outside the White House,” said Steven Rattner, an investment banker and former Obama administration official who speaks to senior Biden aides.

“If somehow inflation comes down and the electorate’s mood improves, they can compete,” Rattner said. “If these things don’t happen, the midterms could get scarily painful very quickly for Democrats.”

White House officials deny any sense of panic over the economy or their midterm chances.

“So many economic indicators are not only extremely good but better than expected. And we are recovering so much faster than previous downturns,” said Heather Boushey, a member of Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Interesting how the economy was getting much better right up till Biden was elected, then took a big negative when he took office. Say what you will about Trump and his mean tweets, the guy focused on fixing issues. Not in the Washington way, where the leaky pipe is patched, but, in a way where the pipe is replaced so it no longer leaks onto your living room ceiling, and the ceiling is fixed and painted.

For now, the big headline numbers still look good for Biden. The economy created 678,000 new jobs in February, continuing the sharp bounce back from Covid losses. The jobless rate is just 3.8 percent. GDP growth is slowing but it was sterling as recently as the last quarter of 2021.

But all those headline numbers may amount to almost nothing politically.

One senior Democratic economist who talks to Biden and his advisers said there’s frustration within the White House that the administration gets little credit for good economic news, even as there’s a relentless focus in the media on inflation. But the economist said the electorate is sour on Biden and the economy.

Smart thinking people realize those jobs are mostly not new positions, they’re just existing positions being filled post-COVID. Because there’s not much in the way of good economic news.

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3 Responses to “Bummer: People More Worried About Inflation Despite “Historic” Job Gains”

  1. alanstorm says:

    And administration officials are increasingly concerned about the economy as a heavy drag in the midterms, according to several allies.

    Umm….

    If you were handed an economy that had been recovering after the COVIDiocy was being rescinded (and had been roaring along before DemPanic set in), and you do your best to strangle it, you SHOULD lose heavily in the midterms.

  2. Est1950 says:

    I have said that the historic sanctions placed on Russia and potentially China will hurt the US and the West far more than it will hurt Russia.

    To wit: Russia demands you buy their oil with rubles. Saudia Arabia begins accepting Chinese Yuan as does the UAE. Both countries have signed deals with China while refusing to take Biden’s phone calls.

    This is how drastic sanctions against Russia can affect the global economy:

    The sanctions imposed on Russia not only affect Moscow, but inevitably also the economies of the countries that supported these sanctions. Economists warn of an imminent global recession as financial turmoil deepens. Here is an overview of the most important points:

    International Monetary Fund warns of ‘severe impact’

    The sanctions imposed by the West on Russia will have a greater impact on global gross domestic product (GDP) than the conflict in Ukraine itself, the World Bank said on Monday.

    Global trade in distress

    Nearly all economies are already seeing a drop in international trade due to the disruptions sparked by the conflict in Ukraine and subsequent economic sanctions, according to data from German think tank Kieler Institut

    Supply chain problems are getting worse

    Hundreds of tankers and bulk carriers were diverted from Russian and Ukrainian Black Sea ports. Ships are stuck in ports and at sea, unable to unload their cargo due to the sanctions.

    food shortages are imminent

    The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said last week that the current situation could trigger global food shortages as Russia and Ukraine play a vital role in global food production and supply.

    Fear of a global recession

    A new Bank of America (BofA) survey shows troubled investors have started hoarding cash amid recession fears. Fund managers’ global growth expectations are at a 14-year low, according to Michael Hartnett, BofA’s chief investment strategist. The majority of respondents expect inflation to be “permanent”.

    Russian restrictions on fertilizer exports imposed in early February have already put pressure on global food production. Russia could retaliate by restricting exports of important minerals such as nickel, palladium, and industrial sapphires. These are crucial inputs for the production of electrical batteries, catalytic converters, phones, ball bearings, light tubes, and microchips.

    The list of how these economic sanctions against one of the largest economies in the world with a lot to offer the world in the way of commodities is exactly why I said many days back that the sanctions imposed on Russia will have more consequences for the USA and the EU than they will for Russia.

    Mr. Elwood was angry with my statement. I don’t make statements lightly without consulting many of my former colleagues and doing a considerable amount of research before arriving at a conclusionary point.

    In this case the sanctions will turn the world into a recession and if the West is Dumb enough to sanction China and India which has now sided with Russia and China when they were becoming close allies for Donald J. Trump and even held rallies when he would arrive in their country.

    The die is cast. The decisions are made.

    The Petrol dollar has been destroyed by Biden and the EU which will further raise inflation as the dollar loses value.

    In other words. Hold onto your hats folks because the shit that is about to hit the USA in the coming months will make today look like a gentle breeze as a hurricane of unintended consequences strikes the shores.

    When people start starving, cannot buy gasoline. All Bets are off. I have seen it around the world and it will be no different in the USA.

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