March 19, 2012
While voters remain overwhelmingly concerned about inflation and expect to pay more at the grocery store, they have more confidence than ever that the Federal Reserve Board can keep inflation under control.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 47% of American Adults are at least somewhat confident the Fed will be able to keep inflation under control and interest rates down. That’s up from 41% in early February and the highest level measured since regular tracking began in late July 2009. Prior to this survey, the number who felt this way has remained in the low to mid 30s for most of 2011 but rose to 40% in December and has remained in the low 40s since.
Forty-eight percent (48%) still lack confidence in the Fed, but that's the first time this finding has fallen believe 50% in nearly three years. The new findings include 11% who are Very Confident in the Fed and 16% who are Not At All Confident. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
The survey of 1,000 American Adults nationwide was conducted on March 10-11, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Fieldwork for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.