03/23/2022

Inflation is Delaying Life Events

The economy is actually performing better than people think

Americans have a grim outlook on the U.S. economy, and nearly two-thirds (64 percent) feel the Federal Reserve should be taking a more aggressive approach to addressing inflation, according to a new survey by the Nationwide Retirement Institute. While older consumers are most likely to support stronger actions from the Federal Reserve (baby boomers 72 percent), even a majority of Gen Z (50 percent) agree the central bank should do more.

However, if the Federal Reserve increases interest rates as expected at its March 2022 meeting, the news will be met with mixed feelings. Consumers are most likely to feel worried (37 percent) or frustrated (30 percent) by news of a rate hike with just 23 percent feeling hopeful. Fourteen percent of all respondents say they would be confused, which rises to 25 percent among Gen Z.

“Following months of decades-high inflation, the war between Russia and Ukraine is intensifying inflationary pressures, worsening supply chain snarls and spiking gas prices,” said Mark Hackett, Nationwide’s chief of investment research. “It’s understandable that consumer sentiment is very low right now. But Americans should know that the economy is actually performing better than people think, job security is extremely strong and even though we’ve seen a lot of market volatility, consumers have record wealth due to equity market and home price rallies.”

Please select this link to read the complete blog post from Nationwide.