President Joe Biden on Wednesday took a victory lap on the latest inflation report, which found that consumer prices did not rise in May over their April levels, marking the first time since 2022 that U.S. month over month inflation has remained flat.
“Prices are still too high, but today’s report shows welcome progress on lowering inflation,” Biden said in a statement.
The other good news for consumers from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics report was that the annual rate of inflation fell to 3.3% in May, down from 3.4% in April and 3.5% in March.
The numbers also came in cooler than economists had expected, with those surveyed by Dow Jones having predicted a 0.1% increase in prices and a 3.4% annual rate of inflation.
“Wages are rising faster than prices, and unemployment has remained at or below 4% for the longest stretch in 50 years,” said Biden.
“I know many families are feeling squeezed by the cost of living, which is still too high,” he added.
Combination picture showing former U.S. President Donald Trump attending the Trump Organization civil fraud trial, in New York State Supreme Court in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., November 6, 2023 and U.S. President Joe Biden participating in a meeting with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 1, 2024.
Reuters
Five months out from the November election, the cooling inflation data is good news for Biden as he mounts a reelection campaign built on the argument that his administration has revived the economy from the chaos wrought by the pandemic.
Last Friday, Biden also patted himself on the back for a blockbuster jobs report, which showed that the U.S. economy added 272,000 jobs in May, well above the Dow Jones forecast of 190,000.
Biden also used Wednesday’s positive report to take a swing at former President Donald Trump’s economic agenda.
“Republicans have a different approach, one that cuts taxes for the wealthy and large corporations, allows special interest like Big Pharma and Big Oil to keep prices high, and ‘supercharges’ inflation by imposing across-the-board tariffs,” Biden said in his statement.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Biden’s claim that the former president’s economic plan would increase inflation.
Trump has so far laid out an economic platform based on imposing tariffs on all imports, extending his first-term tax cuts and pressuring the Fed to cut rates – all of which economists say would likely stoke inflation higher.
“Joe Biden inherited an economy on the brink from Donald Trump,” said the Biden campaign spokesman James Singer, adding that the president “is now leading the great American comeback.”
The timing of Wednesday’s CPI release was also significant. The interest rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee has been meeting for two days, to debate whether or not to lower interest rates.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will address the media later in the day. The growing consensus among analysts is that the Fed will keep benchmark rates unchanged for now, but the odds of a September rate cut are looking up.