Powell’s Public Confidence Nears Historic Lows, Gallup Finds
(Bloomberg) -- Jerome Powell is struggling to shed his label as the lowest-rated US Federal Reserve chairman in nearly a quarter century, as inflation persists and high prices irritate US consumers, according to a new Gallup poll.
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The survey shows 39% of US adults say they have a “great deal” or a “fair amount” of confidence that the Fed chairman would do the right thing for the economy, a slight increase from 36% a year ago when prices were rising more rapidly. The change is within the poll’s margin of error of 4 percentage points.
Powell and his central bank colleagues were slow to react to soaring inflation, which in 2022 reached levels not seen since the early 1980s. Fed officials hiked interest rates and inflation fell rapidly last year, but it remains above the Fed’s target and recent data suggests progress may have stalled.
Policymakers in turn have kept borrowing costs at a more than two-decade high, complicating President Joe Biden’s attempts to restore confidence in the economy in an election year.
Indeed, politics drives much of Powell’s low approval rating. Former President Donald Trump has suggested that Powell would use his influence to help Democrats win in November. Only 30% of Republicans say they have confidence in Powell, about half the 56% of Democrats who say they do.
Powell has repeatedly said politics and elections play no role in the Fed’s decision-making.
Trump nominated Powell in 2017, and Biden re-upped him in 2021 for a new five-year term. Trump has said if he is elected, he wouldn’t extend Powell’s tenure when it expires in 2026.
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