NEW YORK, March 28 (Xinhua) -- During the United States' largest inflation spike in 40 years, overwhelming majorities said they believe the country is headed in the wrong direction and disapproved of U.S. President Joe Biden's handling of the economy, according to a new NBC News poll.

Approval of Biden's handling of the economy is declining as the cost of living has jumped to become Americans' most important issue in the poll, displacing jobs and the economy, voting rights/election integrity and the coronavirus, which all topped January's survey, said NBC.

Sixty-two percent of respondents said their family incomes are falling behind the cost of living, 31 percent said they're staying even, and 6 percent said their incomes are going up faster than the cost of living, according to the poll conducted on March 18-22.

Asked whom or what they blame the most for increasing inflation, a plurality of Americans, 38 percent, pointed the finger at Biden and his policies. Republican respondents made up the bulk of those with that opinion, said NBC.

Another 28 percent put the blame on the COVID-19 pandemic, 23 percent attributed it to corporations that have increased prices, and 6 percent blamed the rising cost of goods and services on the Russia-Ukraine conflicts, it added. ■