Poll: Anxiety about inflation highest since 1985

Americans' level of concern about inflation is at its highest point since 1985, a Gallup poll released Tuesday found.

Seventeen percent of respondents said "High cost of living/inflation" was the most important problem currently facing the United States, up from eight percent in January. An additional 15 percent said the biggest problem was either "Fuel/Oil prices" or the "Economy in general."

Fifty-nine percent said they worry "a great deal" about inflation, including 79 percent of Republicans, 25 percent of Democrats, and 63 percent of independents.

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Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that consumer prices increased by 7.9 percent between Feb. 2021 and Feb. 2022, the biggest one-year jump since 1982.

According to The New York Times, the Biden administration "initially expected rapid inflation to fade" but has now "switched to arguing that it is part of a broader global phenomenon" linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This claim, the Times reports, "is accurate but probably not the full story."

Gallup surveyed 1,017 U.S. adults between March 1 and March 18. The poll has an error margin of four percent.