President Biden said he would not take questions after a speech at the White House on Tuesday emphasizing cooling inflation, but as he left the podium, he told a reporter he could not promise prices would return to normal by next year.
Biden’s win came after Tuesday’s report on the consumer price index showed inflation eased slightly last month. He said he would not take questions after his remarks because he said he would see the media again later in the day, but one reporter shouted, “When can you expect prices to normalize, Mr. President?”
“Hopefully by the end of next year we’ll be much closer, but I can’t make that prediction,” Biden said. “I’m sure they’re not going to go up. I’m sure they’re going to keep going down.”
He ignored another question about whether he would veto a defense spending bill to remove the vaccination requirement.
President Biden noted that inflation is cooling, but he could not predict when prices would return to “normal.”
(Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
INFLATION FALLS MORE THAN EXPECTED TO 7.1& IN NOVEMBER, BUT CONSUMER PRICES REMAIN HIGH.
During his comments, Biden acknowledged that the prices are “still too high” but announced gas prices falling and slowing food inflation as “much-needed relief” for families preparing to celebrate the holidays.
“It will take time for inflation to return to normal levels as we move to more stable and sustainable growth. But we will also see setbacks along the way. We are not taking anything for granted. “I think that’s clear. The economic plan is working and we’re just getting started,” he said.
The Labor Department said Tuesday that the consumer price index, a broad measure of the cost of everyday goods that includes gasoline, groceries and rent, rose 0.1 percent in November from a month earlier. Prices increased by 7.1% per year.
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The readings were below Refinitiv economists’ headline reading of 7.3% and the 0.3% monthly growth forecast, a potentially reassuring sign. Federal Reserve as it tries to tame runaway inflation with a series of aggressive interest rate hikes. This marked the lowest annual inflation rate since December 2021.
Milk prices are shown at a supermarket in Washington, D.C. on May 26, 2022.
(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
In another sign that shows the main thing inflationary pressure As the economy begins to slow, core prices, which strip out more volatile measures of food and energy, rose 0.2 percent in November from a month earlier, down from 0.3 percent in October. Compared to the same period last year, basic prices increased by 6%.
“Today’s news gives me reason to be optimistic,” Biden said. “We’re building a better America, not a top-down economy, but a bottom-up, middle-oriented economy. When the poor do well, the middle class does well, the rich always do very well. We just have to keep going. I think it’s I know we can do it.
Inflation hit a 40-year high of 9.1 percent in June, straining American pockets. Inflation will cool in a few months, in part because the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates. However, this has fueled fears of recession for Americans and corporations; The country was technically in recession earlier this year with two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth.
Fox Business’ Megan Henney contributed to this report.