Remember in 2021 when the Biden administration ordered the Treasury Secretary to Janet Yellenare Americans assured that inflation is “temporary” and will end soon?
Yellen has since changed her tune, saying it is important to keep inflation in check.
Joe Biden’s Top priority. If so, he and his administration need to refocus. Whatever they are doing is not working and working Americans are suffering because of it.
These numbers are devastating for working class Americans, and even the corporate media is beginning to recognize the problem.
The latest producer price index, which measures changes in the prices manufacturers pay to suppliers, or in other words, a precursor to next month’s consumer inflation rate, beat expectations on Tuesday to 2.2% for the 12 months to 2020. became.
April. This increase was higher than the downwardly revised 1.8% for the 12 months to March.
monthly,
price Prices rose 0.5% in April, well above the 0.3% rise expected by mainstream economists, led primarily by services and gas.
Economic news did not improve on Wednesday.
consumer price indexInflation, a measure of consumer-level inflation, came in at 3.4%, in line with expectations. The core inflation rate, which excludes food and energy, was 3.6%, indicating that inflation remains sluggish.
Inflation is additive. The inflation rate in April 2023 was 4.9%. This means that today’s price is a total of 8.3% higher than in April 2022. Overall,
price It’s up more than 18% since Biden took office in 2021.
Finally, prices do not fall when inflation slows. They just slowly go up.
These numbers are devastating for working class Americans, and even the corporate media is beginning to recognize the problem.
Consumer credit card spending has fallen off a cliff
march, the balance of revolving debt increased by just $152 million, compared to the expected $15 billion. While credit card debt still remains; Recorded $1.1 trillion, Americans stopped spending because they could no longer afford to take on more debt.No wonder credit card interest charges Fee Just under 25%.
Americans depleted an estimated $2.1 trillion in savings during the pandemic era
savings It’s gone now. As a result, more Americans are mired in debt. In the first quarter of 2024, total households debt This rose to a record $17.69 trillion, primarily due to increases in home loan balances and auto loans.
And as debt increases, payment arrears also increase.Nearly 9% of credit cards
balance It has fallen into delinquency over the past year, according to the New York Fed.
In 2023,
almost 18% According to The Motley Fool, 80 middle-income Americans are behind on their mortgage, rent, car or other debt payments.
millennial generation More and more people are facing car repossession due to insufficient payments.
foreclosure Housing activity remains at record high with nearly 65,000 people withdrawing their signatures contract We plan to purchase a house in December 2023.
Sadly, people are even giving up food, with 39% of them
American Skipping meals to make ends meet.
While working Americans struggle, the Biden administration continues to pursue economic and social policies that promote inflation rather than combat it.
Mr. Biden falsely claims that
inflation It was 9% when he took office (it was 1.4% then) and continues to pump trillions of dollars into the economy, which needs to be cooled, not heated.billions of dollars student debt forgiveness, green energy,So-called infrastructure The $7.3 trillion in the 2025 budget proposal will only contribute to inflation as more dollars go after the same number of goods and services.
The key question is what the Fed will do about interest rates. All economic indicators suggest the Fed will maintain interest rates the rest of the year, if not raise them by at least a quarter of a percentage point.
Fed Chairman comments on April PPI
Jerome Powell He said he doesn’t expect the Fed’s next action to be to raise rates, suggesting rates will remain where they are.
Political pressure on Mr. Powell to cut interest rates will likely intensify before the November presidential election. Will he and the Fed Board have the courage to do the right thing for working Americans, or will they cave in to pressure and play politics with the nation’s economy?
