White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre attempted to put a positive spin on the release yesterday of last month’s Consumer Price Index data, saying it was “welcome news for American families,” who should be grateful overall prices increased only slightly in August.
THE QUOTE
In response to the report, which showed overall inflation ticked up slightly and core inflation rose significantly over July, Jean-Pierre claimed, “Look, when you look at the data, the inflation data, look, we’re seeing more progress bringing global inflation down in the U.S. economy as I just stated moments ago.”
“Overall, prices have been essentially flat in our country these — these last two months,” she said of the 0.1% increase in overall inflation, which was largely damped by falling gas prices. “That is welcome news for American families, with more work still to do. “
- The press conference was followed by a White House event celebrating the passage of the dubiously named Inflation Reduction Act.
- Year over year, August’s inflation still sat at 8.3%.
- Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged nearly 1300 points.
COUNTERPOINT
A number of metrics suggest that, falling gas prices aside, Americans continue to struggle under the Biden economy.
