‘Crisis of Runaway Prices Is Still Ongoing,’ Job Creators Network President Says of August Inflation Report
“Inflation accelerated significantly again last month, demonstrating the crisis of runaway prices is still ongoing,” the president of the Job Creators Network says after a government agency reported that inflation rose last month.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that the consumer price index, a key measure of inflation, ticked up 0.6% in August.
“This accelerating inflation, which is nearly twice the Federal Reserve’s target rate, is another Bidenomics blow to ordinary Americans and small businesses dealing with rapidly rising prices that are lowering their real wages and living standards for two and a half years,” Alfredo Ortiz, president and chief executive officer of the Job Creators Network, said in a Wednesday statement.
“As usual, this latest surge in inflation is the result of bad policy by the Biden administration, which continues its reckless spending and anti-energy policy,” Ortiz said.
The Job Creators Network president added:
In the face of surging oil prices driving inflation higher, President [Joe] Biden recently announced that he is blocking oil drilling in Alaska, preventing access to hundreds of millions of barrels of oil that could help bring prices down for struggling Americans and small businesses. Biden cares more about green energy than making sure Americans have enough green to pay for energy.
EJ Antoni, a research fellow for regional economics in the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation, says Wednesday’s “very hot CPI report comes as no surprise in the wake of the Treasury’s trillion-dollar borrowing spree, which began when the debt ceiling was suspended in June.” (The Daily Signal is The Heritage Foundation’s news outlet.)
“And now that the Biden administration can no longer drain the strategic petroleum reserve, there’s nothing left to hold down prices,” he told The Daily Signal in a written statement.
“Prices in August rose at the fastest pace in 14 months, a 0.6 percent increase. That may not sound like much but it equates to an annual inflation rate of 7.8 percent, which means prices doubling in less than 10 years,” Antoni said. “Prices have risen so much faster than wages that the typical American family has lost over $5,100 in purchasing power since Biden took office. The average American worker is now paying more of his or her hourly wages in the hidden tax of inflation than in federal income tax.”
The food index rose 0.2% in August, the gasoline (all types) index rose 10.6%, the energy commodities index rose 10.5%, the fuel oil index rose 9.1%, and the energy index rose 5.6%, while the commodities less food and energy commodities index decreased 0.1% and the used cars and trucks index decreased 1.2%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Today’s report provides more evidence that core inflation is trending down toward pre-pandemic levels at a time when employment remains strong,” Biden said in a written statement. “Unemployment has remained below 4% for 19 months in a row, the share of working age Americans with a job is the highest in 20 years, and real wages are higher now than they were before the pandemic.”
“Overall inflation has also fallen substantially over the last year, but I know last month’s increase in gas prices put a strain on family budgets,” Biden added. “That’s why I remain laser-focused on cutting energy costs, including by investing in clean energy to bolster our energy security.”
In August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation rose 0.2% in July.
In July, the food index rose 0.2%, the energy index rose 0.1%, the fuel oil index rose 3%, the utility (piped) gas service index rose 2%, and the shelter index rose 0.4%, while the energy services index decreased 0.1%, the electricity index decreased 0.7%, the used cars and trucks index decreased 1.3%, and the medical care services index decreased 0.4%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The bureau will release the September consumer price index report on Oct. 12 at 8:30 a.m.
