Georgia voters continue to be concerned about the economy, a recent poll from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution finds.
Conducted in early June for the AJC by the University of Georgia School of Public and International Affairs, responses were collected prior to President Biden’s so-called disaster debate performance.
Over half of all respondents said Cost of Living was the key factor in determining the health of the economy and 46% of respondents said they were worse off now than one year ago. When the question turned to top issues influencing their vote for President 26% of respondents cited inflation/cost of living with 16% citing economy/jobs. Together, economic concerns ranked highest for 42% of all voters and 49% of independents.
This has been a stable trend since 2022 when inflation hit a 40 year high.
Georgian’s feel the economic stress most in housing, grocery, and energy costs. Since 2019 grocery prices have climbed by 30% while gas prices saw a 61% increase from $2.10 a gallon to $3.45. Housing costs have skyrocketed 54% nationwide with the Georgia House Price Index up more than 160 points in that same time. Weekly paychecks have only risen about 14%.
Statistics like this generally do not take into account changes in consumer habits, such as the choice to buy cheaper brands or alternative products or to forgo something like air conditioning. This means that real inflation numbers may be even higher than those reflected.This polling is in line with a Quinnipiac poll from June in which 29% of respondents in Georgia cited the economy as their top concern influencing their vote in November. Quinnipiac also found that only 38% of Georgia respondents trusted President Biden to handle the economy while 58% of said Trump would do a better job.
