(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) The stark realities of the Biden economy once again delivered a stinging rebuke to the administration’s wild claims that its policies have the country headed in the right direction.
A key economic indicator that the Federal Reserve uses as its go-to inflation gauge was released Friday and the numbers sent Wall Street into a free fall with stocks crashing across the board.
The Commerce Department’s personal consumption expenditures price index showed consumer prices spiking dramatically higher than expected, increasing from 0.6% from December to January. That was a sharp hike from a 0.2% increase from November to December. On a year-over-year basis, prices rose 5.4%, up from a 5.3% annual increase in December.
36% of Americans have more credit card debt than emergency savings.
Inflation is so bad we’re burning through savings and relying on credit cards to make ends meet.
#BidenFlation— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) February 24, 2023
“This is as bad as it’s been since the ‘80s,” CNBC analyst Joe Kernen said.
Wall Street responded in kind, plummeting toward the worst numbers of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 456 points by early afternoon and trending down, while the Nasdaq composite was 2.1% lower.
“Inflation is still high under Joe Biden, and nothing is being done about it,” Canary CEO and CNN commentator Dan. K. Eberhart said. “High prices hurt Americans across the board. But Biden and Democrats still want to spend trillions.”
Pres. Biden’s spending spree caused historically high inflation.
That’s cost American families an average of $10,000 since he took office.
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) February 24, 2023
The bleak numbers in Friday’s report shined a spotlight on the Biden administration’s domestic policy failures, said former Obama economist Jason Furman.
“The economy is very overheated. We have made little if any progress on inflation,” Furman wrote. “There is little if any reason to expect a large slowdown going forward.”
That’s in sharp contrast to the rosy economic picture Biden painted during his State of the Union speech, and the one that his White House has continued gaslighting.
JEAN-PIERRE: “The Inflation Reduction Act…helps lower energy costs and give Americans a little breathing room.” pic.twitter.com/EjuvpqAOQF
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 23, 2023
“Every day Joe Biden and I talk about and work…to lower the cost for the people of our nation,” Vice President Kamala Harris insisted this week.
The actual numbers tell a different story, one that most economist said will end with the Federal Reserve again hiking interest rates to try to tame inflation.
Cleveland Fed president Cleveland Fed President Loretta told Bloomberg that there’s still a “need to keep raising rates” and the latest Commerce Department reports was “consistent with the fact that the Fed needs to do a little more on our policy rate to make sure that inflation is moving back down.”
As expected, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge accelerated in Jan; they took their foot off the brake way too early, inflation ain’t dead yet – buckle up… pic.twitter.com/rOA9BpcHoM
— EJ Antoni (@RealEJAntoni) February 24, 2023
“Keeping raising rates without knowing the lag effects while continuously selling a soft landing narrative which encourages risk taking countering the inflation fight has to be one of the most boneheaded policy communication strategies ever,” wrote financial market strategist and NorthmanTrader founder.
Skip breakfast to beat inflation.
Ration to beat global warming.
Release criminals to beat crime.
The leftist plan for America.
— Lance Gooden (@Lancegooden) February 24, 2023
