Americans Concerned About Supply Chain Crisis, Expect Federal Action

Problems affecting the U.S. supply chain have a majority of Americans concerned, as they are already noticing shortages in stores, and they expect the federal government to take action to solve the crisis.

A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports and Human Events finds that 85% of American Adults are concerned that supply chain problems may lead to shortages of basic items, including 49% who say they are Very Concerned. Only 11% are not concerned about the problem. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Concerns have grown amid reports that dozens of cargo ships are waiting to be unloaded near the port of Los Angeles, while thousands of cargo containers are piled up in the port of Savannah. Sixty-two percent (62%) of Americans say they’ve already noticed shortages of basic items in stores where they live, while 30% say they haven’t noticed shortages.

Sixty-five percent (65%) believe the federal government should take action to help fix the problems currently affecting the U.S. supply chain, while 18% are against federal action and 17% are not sure.

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The survey of 1,000 U.S. American Adults was conducted on October 11-12, 2021 by Rasmussen Reports and Human Events. 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.

Seventy-five percent (75%) of those surveyed say they have closely followed news stories about problems with the U.S. supply chain, including 39% who have followed the news Very Closely. Twenty-one percent (21%) haven’t closely followed news about the supply chain problem.

Among those who say they’ve followed news about the supply chain problem Very Closely, 74% say they are Very Concerned that supply chain problems may lead to shortages of basic items.

More Republicans (62%) than Democrats (40%) or those unaffiliated with either major party (47%) are Very Concerned that supply chain problems may lead to shortages of basic items.

Among Americans who say they have already noticed shortages of basic items in stores where they live, 62% say they are Very Concerned that supply chain problems could cause future shortages.

More whites (65%) than blacks (61%) or other minorities (55%) say they have noticed shortages of basic items in stores where they live.

Older Americans are more concerned about the supply chain problem than those under 40, but younger Americans are more in favor of federal action to help fix the problems currently affecting the U.S. supply chain.

More investors (50%) than non-investors (31%) have followed news about problems with the U.S. supply chain Very Closely.

Married Americans are more likely than their unmarried counterparts to be Very Concerned that supply chain problems may lead to shortages of basic items, but the unmarried are more in favor of federal action to fix supply chain problems.

Support for federal action to help fix problems currently affecting the U.S. supply chain is a majority across party lines, with 72% of Democrats, 64% of Republicans and 58% of the unaffiliated in favor of federal action.

Economic confidence fell to 96.6 in this month’s Rasmussen Reports Economic Index, down more than seven points from September, the fifth consecutive monthly decline.  This is the lowest index level since May 2020.

Whatever else Americans may be worried or unhappy about, they still believe that home ownership is a good investment.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to the public, as well as Platinum Members.

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