About 57% of polled Americans also believe economy is worsening in grim portrait of cost of living crisis, according to Harris survey for the Guardian

Ninety-five per cent of Americans believe the US is suffering an affordability crisis, as many report trouble with the rising cost of groceries and gas, according to an exclusive new poll conducted for the Guardian.

The survey, conducted by Harris Poll, paints a bleak picture of how people feel about the US economy amid the war in Iran and ahead of the key midterm elections this fall.

The country’s unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.2% as US job growth also slowed for the month

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US job growth slowed in June as employers added 57,000 new jobs – just about half of what economists had predicted – and the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised its figures from the past two months down by a total of 74,000.

The country’s unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.2%, but the number of unemployed people changed little, according to the latest data, as 720,000 people left the labor force. The bureau revised the unexpectedly high May figures from 172,000 new jobs to 129,000, and revised the April figures from 179,000 to 148,000.

A housing shortfall, record home costs and cuts to subsidies are intensifying the US affordability crunch

Of the various dimensions of the affordability crisis weighing on US families, housing probably weighs heaviest. The typical home price has risen above five times the annual income of the typical family. The monthly cost of owning a home has hit record highs.

The US faces a housing shortfall of millions of homes. But builders are not rushing to meet the shortfall. The supply of new homes declined over 14% in May, compared to May of 2025. Moody’s Analytics expects single-family and multifamily residential investment to contract every year between now and 2030.