After statistics on Friday indicated that politically sensitive pricing pressures unexpectedly escalated in recent weeks, President Joe Biden warned that U.S. inflation might linger for a long.
“We’re gonna live with this inflation for a while. It’s gonna come down gradually, but we’re going to live with it for a while,” Biden remarked at a Democratic fundraiser in Beverly Hills.
The cautious remarks came at an event organized by billionaire media mogul Haim Saban, as the government faces mounting pressure ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm elections, in which Biden’s fellow Democrats’ control of Congress is at stake.
Initially, the administration and many professional economists believed that inflationary pressures would be temporary, diminishing as the COVID-19 pandemic recovery progressed.
However, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine drained oil and food supplies from an already overstretched global market, pricing pressures have spread to other commodities and services throughout the world.
Consumer inflation in the United States reached a 40-year high of 8.6% in the year ending in May, according to Labor Department data, with fuel reaching a new high and food prices increasing.
The rising costs have proved a political concern for the Biden administration, which has tried many initiatives to cut prices but has claimed the Federal Reserve has much of the responsibility for inflation management.
President Joe Biden visited the Port of Los Angeles on Friday, where he attempted to clear a backlog of commodities and accused the US oil sector of profiting from a supply deficit.
