The latest data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that prices upstream from consumers continue to surge higher at record-setting levels, putting more pressure on American companies and manufacturers.
As the BLS release for February's data explains, "The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.8 percent in February, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This rise followed advances of 1.2 percent in January and 0.4 percent in December 2021. (See table A.) On an unadjusted basis, final demand prices moved up 10.0 percent for the 12 months ended in February."
That 10 percent year-over-year increase is another shameful record set under the Biden administration's economic policy, and one that debunks President Biden's attempts to blame inflation that's rocketed upward since he took office on Putin's war on Ukraine, and it also shows that companies increasing their prices aren't doing so out of greed, but out of necessity to keep up with rising production costs.
Wholesale inflation is officially in double-digit territory: 10.0% for the year ending February 2022, the highest annual rate in the Producer Price Index's history.
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) March 15, 2022
January's year-over-year rate was also revised up to 10.0%.
Rep. Kevin Brady, the Republican leader of the House Ways and Means Committee, reacted to another record-setting inflation report saying "So much for President Biden's excuses for inflation, given that wholesale prices were going up long before Russia invaded Ukraine."
"This is the highest year over year increase since we started measuring, and nearly half of the price increases in goods come from the rise in price of gasoline," Brady added. "As families watch inflation in consumer prices accelerate, it's no wonder they expect it to last for both the short and long term."
Year-over-year increases in wholesale prices jumped the highest in the history of collecting the data, according to a new Producer Price Index report from the Department of Labor. Ways and Means Republican Leader @RepKevinBrady issued this statement.https://t.co/J7VeAgcyMi pic.twitter.com/jUx64aamEg
— Ways and Means GOP (@WaysandMeansGOP) March 15, 2022
While higher costs are a burden on all producers, small businesses bear the brunt of record-setting inflation while they operate on smaller profit margins and often lack the resources to quickly realign supply chains to limit the price increases and avoid passing higher costs on to consumers.
"American businesses are facing double-digit inflation on their inputs, burdening their already slim profit margins and forcing them to constantly raise prices just to remain profitable," Job Creators Network CEO Alfredo Ortiz told Townhall in a statement. "This rapid increase in wholesale prices demonstrates that painful inflation shows no sign of slowing down. Democrats are desperately trying to claim that their bad policies are not responsible for today's runaway inflation," Ortiz said of earlier attempts to blame COVID for inflation and more recent claims that inflation is a result of "Putin's price hike."
"Ordinary Americans and small business owners know the truth: This inflation tax is a direct consequence of President Biden and Congressional Democrats' reckless spending, war on traditional energy, and unnecessary social programs," Ortiz emphasized. "To address this stratospheric inflation, we demand that Biden reverse course on his failing energy policy and remove his regulations on domestic energy production that are responsible for sky-high oil and gas prices."
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel also reacted to the latest inflation report in a statement saying "prices are skyrocketing, real wages continue to fall, and Americans are being left behind in Biden’s failed economy" and pointing out that "Biden and the Democrats have no one to blame but themselves and their reckless spending agenda for the highest producer price increase on record. Their failures are devastating to American small businesses, families, and workers."