Inflation has soared to a 40-year high under President Joe Biden, according to a new Labor Department report on Friday.
The Consumer Price Index, the most closely watched inflation measure, rose to 6.8% in November, up from 6.2% in October, the latter of which was the highest level in three decades.
The Epoch Times reports:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Dec. 10 that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which reflects inflation from the perspective of end consumers, rose 6.8 percent in the 12 months through November, a level not seen since May 1982, when it hit 6.9 percent.
The annual rise in the CPI gauge was in line with consensus forecasts, but the 0.8 percent monthly pace of inflation reported by BLS was somewhat of an upside surprise, with economists expecting a more moderate rise of 0.7 percent. Still, that represents a slight month-over-month slowdown after CPI inflation surged in October by 0.9 percent, more than doubling September’s rate of 0.4 percent.
The biggest contributors to November’s rate of inflation were gasoline, shelter, food, used cars and trucks, and new vehicles, the BLS report said, noting a 3.5 percent month-over-month rise in the energy index and a 6.1 percent rise in the gasoline index. On a 12 month basis, energy prices shot up 33.3 percent while food prices rose 6.1 percent, with the changes representing the largest over-the-year rises in both measures in at least 13 years.
“Further evidence of inflation broadening out, household furnishings, apparel, and the usual suspects of new and used vehicle prices all posted outsized increases in November,” Bankrate Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.
“Inflation is outpacing increases in household income and weighing heavily on consumer confidence, which is at a decade low. It is only a matter of time before it impacts consumer spending in a material way,” he added.
READ MORE: Survey: Rising Inflation is Biden’s Fault, According to Most Americans
Earlier this year, President Biden and members of his economic team claimed that inflation at the time was merely “transitory.”
“Seeing substantial and more than ‘transitory’ inflation, high levels of job openings and the ongoing ‘Great Resignation,’ the Federal Reserve appears to be in the process of making a shift to a quicker end to monthly asset purchases,” Bankrate Senior Economic Analyst Mark Hamrick told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.
“That’s a likely prelude to higher interest rates sooner. But record low interest rates can’t and shouldn’t last forever,” he added.
CNBC added context to the historic nature of the increases:
Price increases came from familiar culprits.
Energy prices have risen 33.3% since November 2020, including a 3.5% surge in November. Gasoline alone is up 58.1%.
Food prices have jumped 6.1% over the year, while used car and truck prices, a major contributor to the inflation burst, are up 31.4%, following a 2.5% increase last month.
The Labor Department said the increases for the food and energy components were the fastest 12-month gains in at least 13 years.
Shelter costs, which comprise about one-third of the CPI, increased 3.8% on the year, the highest since 2007 as the housing crisis accelerated.
“Inflation is often called a hidden tax, but in many states it yields a far more literal tax increase as tax brackets fail to adjust for changes in consumer purchasing power,” Jared Walczak of the non-partisan Tax Foundation notes.