Inflation in the U.S. soared 8.2% in September, and while President Joe Biden blames it on “Putin’s price hike,” Americans blame him by a wide majority.
The Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index, which catalogs the costs of goods and services as well as food and rent, rose 0.4% over August, double what economists expected, according to new data released Thursday.
But it gets worse. Since last September, core inflation, which excludes food and gas prices, leaped 6.6% in September, up from 6.3% in August. That’s the highest increase since August 1982.
In 2022, food prices have skyrocketed according to the Producers Price Index:
Eggs: Up 97.3%
Vegetables: Up 40.2%
Turkey: Up 38.2%
Pasta: Up 34.1%
Grains: Up 30.4%
Fresh Fruit: 20.7%
Dairy Products: Up 18.2%
Baked Goods: Up 14%
The overall food index, meanwhile, rose 11.2% compared to the same month last year, and nearly 1% over August alone.
And the shelter index, which includes mortgages and rent, leaped 6.6% in the past year, accounting for more than 40% of the core inflation. That’s the largest increase in 32 years.
“Increases in the shelter, food, and medical care indexes were the largest of many contributors to the monthly seasonally adjusted all items increase. These increases were partly offset by a 4.9-percent decline in the gasoline index,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a release.
It’s all going to get worse, according to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.
“These are very, very serious things which I think are likely to push the U.S. and the world — I mean, Europe is already in recession — and they’re likely to put the U.S. in some kind of recession six to nine months from now,” Dimon told CNBC.
Americans blame Biden — not Russian President Vladimir Putin and a war half a world away.
A new Rasmussen Reports poll found that 60% believe the president’s policies are to blame for “increased inflation.” And only 13% think the White House has been successful in its bid to decrease inflation.
What’s more, the survey found that 84% of those polled think soaring prices will be important in their vote — that includes 77% of Democrats.
“With the midterm elections now less than a month away, inflation is still the issue voters are most concerned about,” the pollsters write.
“The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 89% of Likely U.S. voters are concerned about inflation, including 64% who are Very Concerned. Just 11% aren’t concerned about the issue.”
Things just keep getting worse. While prices are soaring, workers have suffered the steepest pay cut in 25 years, according to data released by the Federal Reserve.
Researchers for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas put out a report that calculates “real wages,” which is income adjusted for inflation.
“We find that a majority of employed workers’ real (inflation-adjusted) wages have failed to keep up with inflation in the past year,” the researchers said. “For these workers, the median decline in real wages is a little more than 8.5%.”
“Taken together, these outcomes appear to be the most severe faced by employed workers over the past 25 years,” the researchers added.
Biden bobbed up to tell some lies.
“Americans are squeezed by the cost of living: that’s been true for years, and they didn’t need today’s report to tell them that,” he said, despite the fact that things were just fine under his predecessor Donald Trump.
Then he blamed others. “Fighting the global inflation that is affecting countries around the world and working families here at home is my top priority,” he said.
And then he told one last lie. “If Republicans take control of Congress, everyday costs will go up – not down.”
He’s got a November Surprise coming because the GOP is poised to take over both chambers of Congress.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.