Despite President Biden's fantasyland insistence that inflation is "down" and his administration's claims that prices are "falling," the Consumer Price Index (CPI) print for January 2024 showed that not only is inflation still moving up, it's accelerating faster than economists predicted. Again.
CPI for all items rose 0.3% in January; shelter up https://t.co/dJyJeKlXDJ #CPI #BLSdata
— BLS-Labor Statistics (@BLS_gov) February 13, 2024
As the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Tuesday morning, CPI inflation rose 0.3 percent in January for a 3.1 percent increase over last year — and 17.9 percent higher since Biden took office in January 2021.
The main driver of January's "hotter than expected" inflation was a common culprit: the cost of shelter. That metric alone accounted for more than two-thirds of January's inflation according to the BLS release.
BREAKING: Inflation is up 3.1% over last year — "HOTTER than expected."
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 13, 2024
Overall prices are up 17.9% since Biden took office. pic.twitter.com/2fl0x5lOAW
Core CPI inflation — which excludes more volatile food and energy indexes — advanced even more over the months at 0.4 percent growth for a 12-month increase of 3.9 percent.
Notably, both headline and core CPI numbers are more than the Federal Reserve's target rate of just 2.0 percent inflation, yet the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) continues to tease the possibility of interest rate decreases in 2024 while inflation has remained well above its goal for years.
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Job Creators Network CEO Alfredo Ortiz said January's CPI report shows "inflation remains historically high" and is "nothing to cheer about" even though President Biden and members of his administration are likely to do just that. "Talk to any American going to the grocery store, hardware store, or pharmacy, and they'll tell you prices continue to rise at a painful rate. Rents, car payments, and home and auto insurance have gone through the roof," he emphasized.
"Core inflation didn't budge and continues to rise at twice the Federal Reserve's target rate," said Ortiz. "Moreover, the inflation damage has already been done."
"As a result, Americans are facing a cost of living crisis," Ortiz continued. "This is a direct result of bad Democratic policies like reckless spending and opposition to cheap energy. The only way to bring prices back under control for the long term is by supporting candidates who believe in free enterprise, domestic energy production, deregulation, tax cuts, and the American dream."
As Katie reported at the end of January, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen couldn't offer much hope for Americans struggling to make ends meet after more than two straight years of negative real wages and still-rising inflation.
Never mind, apparently, the Biden administration's insistence toward the beginning of his term that inflation was merely "transitory" and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre's claim that prices were "falling" at the end of January — the month in which it was just confirmed prices rose faster than expected.
This week, we saw more evidence that our economy is strong and inflation is falling under President Biden. pic.twitter.com/3Wlt2XAmGR
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) January 27, 2024
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