United States President Joe Biden cited a recent report that showed inflation in the country was coming down but also expressed his hopes that price increases would go back to a more manageable level.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed that prices increased by 7.1% in November in comparison to what was seen last year. The numbers represent the smallest year-over-year increase since last December.
Biden on Inflation
The White House on Tuesday also hosted a crowd of thousands on the South Lawn who watched the Democratic president sign legislation that sought to protect same-sex and interracial marriages in the chance that the Supreme Court takes away Constitutional rights for such proceedings, as per the Washington Post.
Biden's announcement comes as last month, inflation moderated once more, marking the second time that such an event has occurred. The Bureau of Labor Statistics report also showed on a "core" basis, which stripped out the volatile food and energy components of the data, that revealed prices rose 6% year-over-year and 0.2% on a monthly basis.
Also, economists and strategists were quick to point out that Federal Reserve officials, who are struggling to meet their long-term inflation target of 2%, still have a lot of work to do in order to reduce prices.
According to Yahoo Finance, the situation has also riled up some on Wall Street, including the chief economist of Pantheon Macroeconomics, Ian Shepherdson. He warned that no matter how far inflation is pushed down, it would not stay anywhere near wage growth that was close to 5%.
Chief Global Strategist Seema Shah of Principal Asset Management said that while shelter inflation and core goods inflation were dropping, it was reasonable to expect inflation to continue to go down in the next couple of months.
Rising Prices
Despite Biden's optimistic remarks regarding inflation in the United States, he warned that it was going to take time to get inflation back to normal levels. He added that as officials make the transition to more stable growth, there are setbacks expected along the way. He told the American people to not take anything for granted.
The president said that his objective was to get price increases across the country under control without negatively affecting economic growth. He also wanted to lower inflation while keeping the labor market resilient.
Biden added that the prices of many items were still high despite inflation going down, but noted that the cost of gas was now lower than they were last year. The president also noted that food inflation slowed down last month and that the price of some items, such as televisions, used cars, and toys, were coming down, Reuters reported.
Now, the Fed is expected to lift its benchmark overnight interest rate by 50 basis points on Wednesday. The chief economist at FWDBONDS in New York, Christopher Rupkey, said that the situation seems to show inflation reaching a turning point where price increases are dropping. He added that for the first time, it could be said that the Fed is winning the war on inflation, as per Business Inquirer.
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