90% Say They're Paying More For Groceries Compared To A Year Ago

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke insists that the Federal Reserve is keeping inflation down, but Americans overwhelmingly say they are paying more for groceries these days and expect to pay even more in a year's time.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of U.S. Adults shows that 81% are at least somewhat concerned about inflation, including 47% who are Very Concerned.  The overall finding is up from 77% last month and has ranged from 77% to 85% since 2009. Only 17% are not as concerned about inflation, with just four percent (4%) who are Not At All Concerned. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Contributing to this concern is the fact that 90% of adults say they are paying more for groceries now than they were a year ago. Only four percent (4%) say that is not the case. These findings have stayed relatively consistent since the beginning of the year.

Looking ahead, 76% think the amount they’ll be spending on groceries a year from now will be higher than today. Only four percent (4%) expect to being paying less for groceries in a year's time, while 15% think the amount they pay will be about the same as it is now. This, too, is generally in line with findings for all of 2011.

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The survey of 1,000 American Adults nationwide was conducted on November 11-12, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.