WASHINGTON • More U.S. adults are now feeling financially vulnerable amid high inflation — a political risk for President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats one month before the midterm elections.

Some 46% of people now call their personal financial situation poor, up from 37% in March, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That’s a notable downturn at a particularly inopportune moment for Biden, given that the share of Americans who felt positive about their finances had stayed rock steady over the last few years — even during the economic turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And while a majority of Americans see high prices as beyond Biden’s control, they continue to disapprove of his handling of the economy overall.

Overall, 54% say their finances are good in the latest survey.

That figure was at least 62% through the global recession caused by the pandemic in 2020, and even in late 2021 and early 2022 as prices began to rise across the country. But inflation’s prolonged bite has left the U.S. and wider world facing the possibility of a downturn and, despite solid job growth, more consumers are feeling the pain.

In Salado, Texas, Bethany Saunders saw the rate she paid for electricity double in August, and her water bill jumped as well as she dealt with a summer heat and drought. Her utilities bills totaled $800, a shock to the 43-year-old, who had carefully budgeted after going without a pay raise for two years.

“That just drained my bank account — I’m not rich, but I knew what I could live on,” said Saunders, who voted Republican in 2020 and plans to do so again this year.

Overall, views of Biden and of the direction of the country held steady in October, after improving somewhat in September.

Biden’s approval rating had dropped as low as 36% in a July AP-NORC poll.

President Joe Biden speaks before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn on Wednesday.

the associated press