Consumer Sentiment Hits Lows Before Midterms
Left 33%
Center 67%
Right 0%
1 left · 2 center · 0 right
What happened
In the weeks before the 2026 midterm elections, the University of Michigan’s long-running consumer sentiment survey, directed by Joanne Hsu, found sentiment lower than at almost any other point in modern history, including the mid-1970s, 2008, and the post-COVID inflation spike. Bureau of Labor Statistics data cited in reporting show grocery prices up more than 4 percent over two years; AAA reports gasoline prices up 35 percent; and Freddie Mac projects 30-year fixed mortgage rates remaining above 7 percent. CBS News interviewed Michigan voters at the Franklin Cider Mill in suburban Detroit who described difficulty with fuel, housing, and wages that have not kept pace with prices. The Hill separately reported that annual CPI inflation rose from 3.4 percent in August to 3.7 percent in September, according to the BLS, with additional wholesale figures the following day, as early voting was underway. Those figures sit against President Trump’s 2024 Michigan campaign pledge to quickly bring down inflation, grocery bills, and interest rates.
Sourcing check · Partly on the record · 3 articles
1 of 3 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
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- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Joanne Hsu
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 1 of 3
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- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Oct 17, 21:00 UTC by The Hill, naming its source. First document in the first report, from The Hill (official statistics).
- Not counted 0
- Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
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ONE-SIDED THIS WEEK.
Only left-leaning outlets have covered this story in the last two days;
Daily Wire reported it on 2026-10-14.
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Right-leaning outlets had not covered this as of publication. Left-leaning coverage reports that inflation rose to 3.7 percent in September and treats the reading as a midterm problem for Republicans as early voting begins. Only one left-leaning outlet has written it up, so there is no intra-side dispute to weigh. It never mentions that consumer sentiment now sits lower than during the financial crisis. It also skips how much grocery bills have climbed. A reader of the silent side misses the inflation print, the sour mood, and the claim that both now burden the GOP.
Left-leaning coverage leads with politics rather than the index. The Hill puts "issues for GOP" in the headline, ahead of the Bureau of Labor Statistics figures.
How many of the people who say the economy hurts plan to vote against the president's party over it?
Bottom line
The Hill is the sole account, tying a 3.7 percent inflation rate to GOP midterm trouble, while a historic slump in consumer sentiment appears neither there nor on the right.
The receipts — 4 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Gas prices are up 35 percent according to AAA
- Democrats, Independents, and Republicans all feel worse about the economy in this administration than in the first Trump administration
- Grocery prices rose by more than four percent in the past two years
- In 2024 Trump said a top priority would be to quickly defeat inflation and make America affordable again
The Left View
Left-leaning coverage, led by The Hill, frames the BLS inflation uptick and related wholesale data as another problem for Republicans during the midterm stretch and early voting. Center reporting from CBS News, from Michigan, focuses on historically low consumer sentiment across Democrats, Independents, and Republicans; Hsu’s finding that the share of consumers expecting wages to outpace inflation fell from 18 percent to 11 percent; and voter comments that the economy “sucks” and that Trump did not keep his affordability promise. CBS also notes stock-market strength and rising wages alongside the sentiment drop, cites tariffs as a price concern for some voters, and reports housing-market strain from higher mortgage rates, including a Northville home lingering on the market.
Our Take (balanced)
The story is substantive: it rests on named statistical sources (BLS, AAA, Freddie Mac, the University of Michigan survey), a named survey director, specific percentages, a named location, and on-the-record voter interviews—not a single party’s uncorroborated claim. Established as reported are the survey’s historically low readings, the cited price and rate figures, and the contrast with Trump’s 2024 affordability pledge; that poor data will “hurt the GOP” at the ballot box remains an inference until votes are counted. No right-leaning outlet has reported this. Watch for the full Michigan survey tables, subsequent BLS releases, official White House or GOP responses, and whether early-vote and polling data move with these numbers.
3 sources
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