President Joe Biden’s economy took a gut punch on Wednesday when a hotter-than-expected inflation report dropped, revealing a 3.5% increase over the last 12 months — the highest year-over-year increase since last September.
According to the latest Consumer Price Index data — which was released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics — key drivers of the higher rates include car insurance, groceries, electricity, and gas. New parents and pet owners are feeling the pinch as well, with baby food now up over 30% since 2021 and pet food up 23.7%.
🚨SINCE BIDEN TOOK OFFICE:
Gasoline: 47.8%
Groceries: +21.1%
Eating out: +21.4%
Baby food: +30.5%
Pet food: +23.7%
Rent: +20.9%
Electricity: +28.3%
Natural gas: +26.9%
Used cars: +20.9%
Air fare: +32.7%
Public transportation: +22.2%
Real average weekly earnings: -3.9%— Jacki Kotkiewicz (@jackikotkiewicz) April 10, 2024
The higher-than-expected inflation numbers come just a day after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen insisted that overall household finances were “quite strong” — and may put a sizable kink in any plans to begin bringing interest rates back down.
Critics of the Biden economy weighed in on the news, noting that the inflation crisis was certainly not, as promised, transitory.
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“Remember when the admin said inflation was transitory? Overall prices are still up 19.4% since Biden entered office. Oklahomans are paying nearly double at the grocery store. Rent, transportation, and energy costs are still way too high. Americans can’t afford the Biden economy,” Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said.
Remember when the admin said inflation was transitory? Overall prices are still up 19.4% since Biden entered office. Oklahomans are paying nearly double at the grocery store. Rent, transportation, and energy costs are still way too high. Americans can't afford the Biden economy.
— Markwayne Mullin (@SenMullin) April 10, 2024
Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) added, “Prices RISE by 3.5% in March over last year. But don’t believe your lying eyes. Biden told us it would be temporary, it would be transitory, and that costs were under control. It’s NEVER been more expensive to live in this economy.”
Prices RISE by 3.5% in March over last year.
But don’t believe your lying eyes.
Biden told us it would be temporary, it would be transitory, and that costs were under control.
It’s NEVER been more expensive to live in this economy. pic.twitter.com/7FLDyXg6Ah
— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) April 10, 2024
Economist Stephen Moore shared side-by-side comparisons in three key areas that explained why Americans are not as enthusiastic about the economy as they were before Biden took office.
- Inflation: Jan ’21, 1.4%; March ’24, 3.5%
- 30-year fixed mortgage rate: Jan ’21, 2.65%; March ’24, 6.82%
- Average gas price: Jan ’21, $2.39; March ’24, $3.39
Bidenomics:
𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Jan '21: 1.4%
March '24: 3.5%𝟑𝟎-𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞
Jan '21: 2.65%
March '24: 6.82%𝐀𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞
Jan '21: $2.39
March '24: $3.39— Stephen Moore (@StephenMoore) April 10, 2024
The Republican National Committee (@RNCResearch) also posted a comparison chart showing the inflation rates of specific items under President Biden and under former President Donald Trump.
“You’ll never convince Americans that Biden’s economy is better than President Trump’s economy — because it isn’t,” the caption read. “SEE FOR YOURSELF.”
You'll never convince Americans that Biden's economy is better than President Trump's economy — because it isn't.
SEE FOR YOURSELF: pic.twitter.com/Vww0dhubnV
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 10, 2024
Fox Business host Dagen McDowell added a twist as well, noting that President Biden’s continued insistence on unilaterally canceling student loans — in defiance of the Supreme Court — would only make things worse for families already feeling the pinch from inflation.
“Food, energy, car insurance (+22% y/y)! This is an unavoidable hardship and anxiety for working Americans,” McDowell said. “So Joe Biden again screws them + the nearly 90% of Americans with NO STUDENT LOAN DEBT and then hands them the bill for bailing out college graduates who didn’t feel like paying off their own debts.”
INFLATION WORSENING.
3-month annualized CPI
⬆️4.6% core ⬆️4.5%
Food, energy, car insurance (+22% y/y)! This is an unavoidable hardship and anxiety for working Americans.
So Joe Biden again screws them+the nearly 90% of Americans with NO STUDENT LOAN DEBT and then hands them the…— Dagen McDowell (@dagenmcdowell) April 10, 2024
Even Ron Klain, Biden’s own former White House Chief of Staff, told Politico that Biden was making a strategic mistake when it came to the obvious problem of inflation and his reelection campaign.
“I think the president is out there too much talking about bridges. He does two or three events a week where he’s cutting a ribbon on a bridge. And here’s a bridge. Like I tell you, if you go into the grocery store, you go to the grocery store and, you know, eggs and milk are expensive, the fact that there’s a f***ing bridge is not … Like it’s a bridge, and how interesting is the bridge? It’s a little interesting but it’s not a lot interesting.”