Does inflation explain voter disapproval despite a tight labor market?
Core argument: U.S. inflation rose from 2% just before the pandemic to a 9.1% peak last year as gasoline prices leapt after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and has since retreated to 4% as gasoline prices dropped.
Many of the benefits of that tight labor market have been negated by inflation. It soared from 2% just before the pandemic to a peak of 9.1% last year as gasoline prices leapt in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It has since retreated to 4% as gasoline prices dropped, but underlying inflation persists around 4% to 5%. Inflation is the main reason voters disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy by a two-to-one ratio, according to a May poll by the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. If inflation doesn’t fade of its own accord, the Federal Reserve might have to raise interest rates further and push the economy into recession, which won’t help Biden’s approval ratings.

