Today's developments in the 2024 U.S. election: Latest polls show Harris and Trump in a dead heat
Voter perceptions of the U.S. economy
If there is one issue that could determine the election outcome, it is the economy.
Repeated polls show that American voters are most concerned about their wallets.
So how is the U.S. economy performing?
In many ways, it is strong—in fact, by most indicators, it leaves other developed countries in the dust.
Gross Domestic Product grew by 2.8% from July to September, while it grew by 3% in the previous quarter.
In contrast, the Eurozone only grew by 0.4% and 0.2% during the same period.
Nevertheless, most American voters in polls indicate that the economy is in poor shape.
The most compelling reason for this disconnect is that consumers are still feeling the impact of high inflation.
Although wage growth has outpaced price increases for more than a year, wage growth is still insufficient to fully offset the spike in living costs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Analysts predict that people's real purchasing power will not fully recover to January 2021 levels until the second quarter of next year.
It is widely believed that negative economic sentiment is a burden for Harris, who represents the incumbent government, although recent polls show she has made some progress in undermining Trump's advantage on this issue.