Staff Reports
Once again, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index has shown that inflation is not going away, despite what the Biden administration would have you believe. According to the recent report from the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), headline PCE inflation increased by 0.4 percent in September. And if that wasn’t bad enough, core PCE inflation, which excludes food and energy costs, rose by a staggering 0.3 percent, three times the increase seen in August. It’s clear from the chart below that inflation is only accelerating, not subsiding.
Looking at the annual numbers, the PCE price index increased by 3.4 percent from September 2022 to September 2023, and core PCE inflation jumped by 3.7 percent. These figures are well above the Federal Reserve’s target inflation rate of 2.0 percent. In addition, personal incomes only increased by 0.3 percent in September, meaning that once again, inflation is outpacing Americans’ earnings. This leads to another month of negative real wages for workers.
The Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes, which have brought rates to their highest level in over 20 years, have failed to reverse inflation. This is partly due to the reckless spending policies of the Biden administration, which have created a false sense of economic growth. It’s clear that this growth cannot be sustained indefinitely. Perhaps Biden is trying to keep up appearances until after the 2024 election? But no matter how hard they try to spin the data, the American people can see through the lies. Biden’s handling of the economy, especially the persistently high inflation, has been a major disappointment.
The Federal Reserve is set to meet at the end of October and will decide whether to continue their “pause” on interest rates or raise them again. Given the accelerating inflation, it seems they have no choice but to raise rates. However, the need for action hasn’t always translated into actual policy from the Fed. So we’ll have to wait and see if they finally take decisive action to rein in inflation and protect the American people from the consequences of the Biden administration’s reckless spending.
⚠️BREAKING:
*U.S PCE PRICE INDEX 0.4% M/M, EXP. 0.3%
*U.S. CORE PCE PRICE INDEX 0.3% M/M, EXP. 0.3%*U.S. PCE PRICE INDEX 3.4% Y/Y, EXP. 3.4%,
*U.S. CORE PCE PRICE INDEX 3.7% Y/Y, EXP. 3.7%🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/c506SFe5r6
— Investing.com (@Investingcom) October 27, 2023
