A Sour Economic Mood Heads Into the Midterms, Even With Unemployment at 4.2 Percent and Growth at 3.4
Reuters finds voters blaming tariffs and the Iran war for nagging inflation on the eve of the vote — in an economy that is simultaneously posting record-low joblessness and its strongest growth of the year.
Americans head into Tuesday's midterm elections in a sour economic mood, Reuters reported Monday, with high and rising prices the key issue and many voters blaming President Donald Trump's policies — specifically tariffs and the Iran war — for the nagging inflation. Trump is not on the ballot, but his economic record is in voters' minds as they decide whether his party keeps control of Congress.
The numbers underneath the mood tell a more complicated story. The unemployment rate measured 4.2 percent in September and has held at or below 4.5 percent for five straight years, the longest such stretch on record, with weekly jobless claims near a 57-year low and more people employed than ever. The economy grew at a 3.4 percent annualized pace last quarter, its strongest performance of the year.
Even the mood itself disagrees with itself: the Conference Board's confidence measure perked up in October while the University of Michigan's sentiment index sat near a record low. And in the final days before the vote, earnings from companies including Amazon and Intel fed fresh worries about the sustainability of the artificial-intelligence spending boom, sending the Nasdaq sharply lower — one more cross-current for voters weighing a strong jobs record against the prices they actually pay.
