PRICES JOE-ING HIGHER
Up 19% since his elex
It only took a week for President Biden’s State of the Union boast that “inflation keeps coming down” to be proven wrong. Inflation rose a higher-thanexpected 3.2% in February, adding to everyday Americans’ pain. Consumer prices have not fallen year-over-year since Biden’s term began in January 2021. Overall, prices are up a staggering 19% since December 2020, the month before Biden moved into the White House — despite his Bidenomics agenda. Prices edged 0.4% higher last month, driven mainly by shelter and gasoline indexes accounting for more than 60% of the advance. Core CPI — a number that excludes volatile food and energy prices — slowed to 3.8% in February after advancing 3.9% in December and January.
The figure, a closely watched gauge among policymakers for long-term trends, was slightly above the 3.7% figure economists at FactSet expected.
The latest inflation figures are apt to disappoint central bankers, who have been trying to get inflation closer to their 2% goal, as well as investors, hoping to see the first of three anticipated interest rate cuts this year.
Aside from shelter and gasoline, the Bureau of Labor Statistics attributed the CPI’s increase to rises across airline fares, motor vehicle insurance, apparel and recreation.
The indexes for personal care and household furnishings, meanwhile, dropped.
The food index was unchanged in February, as was the food at home index, though the food away from home index rose 0.1% for the month.
Jobs & wages strong
The closely watched jobs report showed the unemployment rate rose to 3.9%, after three months of holding steady at 3.7%.
Still, US employers increased payrolls by a surprisingly strong 275,000 last month, according to the Labor Department, blowing past the 198,000 job gains economists expected.
Also in February, the annual increase in wages edged up by five cents, to $34.57, after increasing by 18 cents in January.
Recent data echo what Fed Chair Jerome Powell told US lawmakers last week — that progress on lowering inflation “is not assured.”
The remarks came nearly two years after inflation peaked at a staggering 9.1% in June 2022, pushing Fed officials to begin a rate-hiking campaign that lifted the benchmark federal funds rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023, landing on its current 22-year high, between 5.25% and 5.5%, in July 2023.