(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden said inflation was creating “real stress at the kitchen table” but insisted he remained optimistic about the American economy even after the consumer price index surged beyond expectations in Labor Department data released Thursday.
“While today’s report is elevated, forecasters continue to project inflation easing substantially by the end of 2022,” Biden said in a statement. “And fortunately we saw positive real wage growth last month,” he said, referring to pay after adjusting for inflation. He also cited “moderation in auto prices, which have made up about a quarter of headline inflation over the last year.”
Biden highlighted the positive developments of record job and wage growth over the past year, and said he would continue to push Congress to pass programs that would address the costs of child care, energy and prescription drugs.
Inflation has become a major political headache for Biden, whose approval rating has slipped below 40% in the most recent RealClearPolitics polling average. The administration’s efforts to advance its economic agenda has been stymied on Capitol Hill after Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia broke with fellow Democrats, in part over concerns that additional government spending would drive inflation higher.
And January’s consumer price index report -- which saw the widely followed inflation gauge rise 0.6% from the previous month, above consensus estimates -- comes after Biden said in December he believed the nation was already at “the peak” of its inflation crisis.
Broad Based
The report found that food prices rose 0.9% in January, the most in three months, and energy costs also advanced 0.9%, on gains in fuel oil and electricity. The White House has taken a series of executive actions in recent months designed to tamp down price gains in both sectors.
The broad increase in the CPI also reflected higher prices for household furnishings, used vehicles, apparel and medical care. Prices of household furnishings and health insurance both rose by the most on record on a month-to-month basis.
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