This holiday season isn't very merry for consumers, an AP-NORC poll
finds
[December 13, 2025] By
JOSH BOAK and AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX
WASHINGTON (AP) — This holiday season isn’t quite so merry for American
shoppers as large shares are dipping into savings, scouring for bargains
and feeling like the overall economy is stuck in a rut under President
Donald Trump, a new AP-NORC poll finds.
The vast majority of U.S. adults say they’ve noticed higher than usual
prices for groceries, electricity and holiday gifts in recent months,
according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public
Affairs Research.
Roughly half of Americans say it’s harder than usual to afford the
things they want to give as holiday gifts, and similar numbers are
delaying big purchases or cutting back on nonessential purchases more
than they would normally.
It's a sobering assessment for the Republican president, who returned to
the White House in large part by promising to lower prices, only to find
that inflation remains a threat to his popularity just as it did for
Democrat Joe Biden's presidency. The poll’s findings look very similar
to an AP-NORC poll from December 2022, when Biden was president and the
country was grappling with higher rates of inflation. Trump's series of
tariffs have added to inflationary pressures and generated anxiety about
the stability of the U.S. economy, keeping prices at levels that many
Americans find frustrating.
The president has insisted there is “no” inflation and the U.S. economy
is booming, as he expressed frustration that the public feels
differently.
“When will people understand what is happening?” Trump said Thursday on
Truth Social. “When will Polls reflect the Greatness of America at this
point in time, and how bad it was just one year ago?”
Most U.S. adults, 68%, continue to say the country’s economy is “poor,”
which is unchanged from December 2024, before Trump returned to the
presidency.
Americans are feeling strained as they continue to see high prices
White House officials plan to send Trump barnstorming across the country
in hopes of bucking up people's faith in the economy before next year's
midterm elections. But the president this week in Pennsylvania defended
the price increases tied to his tariffs by suggesting that Americans
should buy fewer dolls and pencils for children. His message is a
jarring contrast with what respondents expressed in the poll, even among
people who backed him in the 2024 election.
Sergio Ruiz, 44, of Tucson, Arizona, said he is using more buy now, pay
later programs to spread out over time the expense of gifts for his
children. He doesn't put a huge emphasis on politics, but he voted for
Trump last year and would like to see lower interest rates to help boost
his real estate business. He believes that more Americans having higher
incomes would help to manage any affordability issues.
“Prices are up. What can you do? You need to make more money,” Ruiz
said.
The poll found that when they do shop, about half of Americans are
finding the lowest price more than they would normally. About 4 in 10
are dipping into their savings more than at other times.
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they’re cutting back
on expenses or looking for low prices, but many Republicans are
budgeting more than usual as well. About 4 in 10 Republicans are looking
for low prices more than they usually would, while a similar share are
shopping for nonessential items less than usual.
[to top of second column] |
Goldie Getter, the wife of a civil service employee who was
furloughed due to the government shutdown, unpacks groceries her
husband received from a food bank, in Gulfport, Miss., Monday, Nov.
3, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
 Views are largely similar to when
Biden was president
People felt similarly dismal about holiday shopping and the economy
when Biden was president in 2022. Inflation had spiked to a
four-decade high that summer. Three years later, inflation has eased
substantially, but it's still running at 3%, a full percentage point
above the Federal Reserve's target as the job market appears to have
entered a deep freeze.
The survey indicates that it's the level of prices — and not just
the rate of inflation — that is the point of pain for many families.
Roughly 9 in 10 U.S. adults, 87%, say they've noticed higher than
usual prices for groceries in the past few months, while about
two-thirds say they've experienced higher prices than usual for
electricity and holiday gifts. About half say they've seen higher
than normal prices for gas recently.
The findings on groceries and holiday gifts are only slightly lower
than in the 2022 poll, despite the slowdown from an inflation rate
that hit a four-decade peak in the middle of that year.
Consumer spending has stayed resilient despite the negative
sentiments about the economy, yet Trump's tariffs have caused
changes for shoppers such as Andrew Russell.
The 33-year-old adjunct professor in Arlington Heights, Illinois,
said he used to shop for unique gifts from around the globe and buy
online. But with the tariffs, he got his gifts locally and “this
year, I only bought things that I can pick up in person,” he said.
Russell, who voted Democratic in last year's election, said he
worries about the economy for next year. He thinks the investment in
artificial intelligence has become a bubble that could burst, taking
down the stock market.
Little optimism about an economic rebound in 2026
Few people expect the situation to meaningfully improve next year —
a sign that Trump has done little to instill much confidence from
his mix of tariffs, income tax cuts and foreign trips to attract
investments. Trump has maintained that the benefits from his
policies will begin to snowball in 2026.
About 4 in 10 U.S. adults expect next year will be economically
worse for the country. Roughly 3 in 10 say conditions won’t change
much. Only about 2 in 10 think things will get better, with
Republicans being more optimistic.
The belief that things will get better has slipped from last year,
when about 4 in 10 said that 2025 would be better than 2024.
Millicent Simpson, 56, of Cleveland, Ohio, said she expects the
economy to be worse for people like her who rely on Medicaid for
health care and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Simpson voted Democratic last year and blames Trump for the greater
economic pressures that she faces going into the winter.
“He’s making it rough for us,” she said. “He’s messing with the
government assistance for everybody, young and old.”
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