The public’s confidence in Jerome Powell’s leadership has declined to the lowest level on record for a Federal Reserve chair, a Gallup poll released Tuesday showed.
The poll shows that just 36 percent of U.S. adults say they have a “great deal” or a “fair amount” of confidence that Powell would do the right thing for the economy, Gallup said.
That’s the lowest score for a Fed chair in records going back to Alan Greenspan’s tenure at the top of the central bank in the early years of this century. It is close to former chair Ben Bernanke’s 39 percent in 2012 and Janet Yellen’s 37 percent in 2014.
Powell also has the lowest score ever when it comes to those who say they have a “great deal” of confidence in him, at only four percent. One the other side of the ledger, he has the higher share of the public saying they’re confidence level is “almost none,” at 28 percent.
Powell, who was first appointed Fed chair by Donald Trump and was reappointed by President Biden, is more popular with Democrats than Republicans. Sixty percent of Democrats say they have a great deal or a fair amount of confidence in Powell. Just 21 percent of Republicans do. Among independents, Powell scores a positive confidence response with 32 percent.
Politically, Powell’s highest negatives come from Republicans, among whom 43 percent say they have almost no confidence in Powell.
Confidence in Powell is higher among younger Americans and non-white Americans. Just 33 percent of white Americans say they have confidence in Powell, while 45 percent of non-white Americans do. Forty percent of adult Americans under age 35 have confidence in Powell. For those between 35 and 54, Powell scores 33 percent saying they have a great deal or a fair amount of confidence. For older Americans, Powell scores 38 percent.