Groundwork’s Lindsay Owens on Growing Distrust of Fed Chair Powell

New Gallup poll finds Americans’ confidence in Chair Powell has dropped to lowest level since 2001

Yesterday, Gallup released a new poll that found record-low confidence in Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The poll found that only 36% said they had a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in Chair Powell, the lowest level of confidence in a Fed Chair since Gallup began polling in 2001. Groundwork Collaborative’s own polling with Lake Research Partners in March found that 42% of voters nationwide had little to no confidence in Fed Chair Jerome Powell. In the latest Gallup poll, that number jumped to 54%.

Groundwork Collaborative’s Executive Director Lindsay Owens reacted with the following statement:

“It shouldn’t come as a shock that Chair Powell’s actions have eroded public trust in the central bank. Instead of fighting for a strong labor market and securing our banking system, Chair Powell has enacted 10 consecutive rate hikes and put us at risk of a recession. Americans want a Fed that is on their side, not the side of big banks.”

HIGHLIGHTS FROM GROUNDWORK’S MARCH POLL WITH LAKE RESEARCH PARTNERS

• Voters believe the Federal Reserve is on the side of big business (38%), banks (38%), and Wall Street (30%). Less than 1 in 5 across partisan lines think the Federal Reserve is on the side of average Americans.
• About 4 in 10 voters (42%) nationwide have little to no confidence in Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell doing what is right for the U.S. economy, including 22% who have a little confidence in him and 20% who have no confidence at all.
• A majority (56%) of voters across demographic subgroups want the Federal Reserve to stop increasing interest rates before it triggers a recession. More than three quarters of voters say we should be focusing on the legislative tools Congress can use to fight inflation.
• More than three quarters believe our economic leaders must focus on full employment and building an economy that works for all, rather than taking overly aggressive actions that push the economy into a recession.