Gas prices are listed at over $7 per gallon in Los Angeles, California on June 22, 2022.(FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images) WASHINGTON - Concerns about inflation and personal finances have surged while COVID has evaporated as a top issue for Americans, a new poll shows, marking an upheaval in priorities just months before critical midterm elections.Forty percent of U.S.
adults specifically name inflation in an open-ended question as one of up to five priorities for the government to work on in the next year, according to a June poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
That's a sharp rise from 14% in December and less than 1% the year prior. In all, 77% mention the economy in any way, up from 68% in December.
But just 10% specifically mention jobs or unemployment, as U.S. employers continue to hire despite high inflation and weak economic growth.RELATED: US inflation hit 8.6% in May, a new 40-year highNow, too, Americans increasingly call their personal finances a major issue: 44% mention it, up from 24% in December and 12% the year before.