Although the US is experiencing the highest growth rate in decades and fastest unemployment decrease ever, most Americans see only the rising prices and inflation, President Biden acknowledged, admitting everything costs more nowadays.
As pandemic-related business shutdowns created shipment delays and backlogs at ports, supply shortages and robust demand country wide are driving price spikes more than they have in 30 years.
However, Biden vowed to fix this and the supply-chain crisis through his “Build Back Better” agenda and the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that was passed recently.
Biden argued this bill would revitalize US passenger and freight rail, will create solid, union jobs that can’t be outsourced and will pay $45 an hour with good benefits, eliminating the backlog at US ports hence ending consumer goods shortages while also battling inflation.
Earlier in the day, reporting the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures, the Department of Labor reported 6.2% inflation since last October, the highest since November 1990, noting it has outstripped the growth in wages as the country is rebounding from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ahead of the release of the CPI data, Goldman Sachs economists warned that inflation will likely get worse before it gets better.
Promoting the bill on Wednesday in the port of Baltimore, Biden urged Congress to pass the even bigger and more sweeping BBB, pointing that his administration is working to get prices down, to make sure the shelves are fully stocked to save this Christmas season and get Americans back to work, but would not say exactly how.
While he may be able to usher his agenda through Congress, he has limited ability to curb the inflation threatening the nation. In a gut punch for cash-strapped families and a political nightmare for the Biden administration, most of last month’s inflation was driven by soaring energy and food prices.
As global oil and gas production lags, energy prices are expected to climb more, pandemic is still keeping millions out of the workforce and the broadening of high inflation beyond goods and services is also raising concerns about how much longer inflation will continue to increase.
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