Washington, D.C. – Today, in advance of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s Congressional testimony this week, Groundwork Collaborative released new polling from Lake Research highlighting voters’ attitudes toward the economy, specifically voters’ increasing distrust of the Federal Reserve, opposition to continued rate hikes, and interest in the Federal Reserve prioritizing policies that help workers and families. 

Dr. Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at Groundwork, shared the statement below:

“Our new poll makes it clear that people across the country want the Federal Reserve to stop raising interest rates before it pushes us toward a devastating and completely avoidable recession.

“People understand that pushing millions of workers out of a job is a terrible way to address inflation and will do nothing to address root causes of inflation like supply-chain interruptions, the war in Ukraine, and big corporations manipulating the market to increase profits. And they want a Federal Reserve that prioritizes workers and families, not Wall Street and Big Business.”

Highlights from the poll below and read the full memo here.

• 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 20% who have no confidence at all and 22% who have a little confidence in him.

• 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.

The poll was conducted by Lake Research Partners from January 27th through February 5th, 2023. The survey reached a total of n=1,240 registered voters nationwide. The margin of error for the full sample is +/- 2.8 percent. 

If you’re interested in speaking with Dr. Rakeen Mabud or the Lake Research Partners team about the poll, the Federal Reserve, or inflation policy, please contact press@groundworkcollaborative.org.