Many U.S. citizens believe their financial health has deteriorated sharply in 2022 amid elevated inflation, new data from the U.S. Federal Reserve has shown, writes the Financial Times..

According to a survey released by the U.S. Central Bank, the proportion of American adults reporting they are "

Nearly a third said they either "

In October, 35% of more than 11,000 Americans surveyed said they were in worse financial shape than a year earlier, the highest since this question was first asked in 2014..

Relentless price pressures are primarily to blame, Fed officials said, causing consumers to either stop buying certain goods or switch to cheaper alternatives, and forcing them to save..

[see_also ids\u003d"

The decline in sentiment came as the Fed embarked on the fastest monetary tightening campaign in decades to combat stubbornly high inflation.. During 2022, the central bank raised its base policy rate from near zero to 4.5 percent, repeatedly resorting to sharp increases of 0.75 percentage points.

After an additional rate hike in 2023, officials are debating whether to scrap further policy tightening at their next meeting in mid-June..

A large group of policymakers are concerned that only limited progress has been made so far on lowering inflation, despite signs that price pressures have peaked..

The economic outlook is complicated by uncertainty about the extent of the ongoing credit crunch as lenders retreat after multiple bank failures since March. Jay Powell, the Fed chairman, mentioned this on Friday, hinting that he might prefer to skip another rate hike at the June meeting..

Earlier, the White House stated that the United States will continue to help Ukraine even in the event of a default.