Inflation in the United States is rising sharply, increasing pressure on President Joe Biden to keep prices under control.
“Ugly” inflation is rising faster than expected in the United States, and experts warn that the Federal Reserve should be “concerned.”
Inflation rose to a new four-decade high in May. Government data released on Friday revealed an annual increase of 8.6%. Economists had forecast 8.3 percent.
Consumer prices rose 1 percent in May from just 0.3 percent the previous month.
U.S. President Joe Biden blamed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the supply chain challenges associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also accused oil companies of taking advantage of petrol prices and criticized ExxonMobil for making “more money than God”.
“I am doing everything in my power to curb Putin’s rising prices and bring down the price of gas and food,” he said Friday as he spoke at the Los Angeles port.
“We are in a better position [than] almost any country in the world to overcome the global inflation we are seeing and take the next step to form a historic recovery. “
The Liberal Institute of Economic Policy wrote on Twitter that the inflation figures were “quite ugly” and caused pain to workers and families. The think tank expects inflation to begin to slow later this year.
TD Securities analysts said in a report that there was no way to sweeten the rise.
“It simply came to our notice then. He [inflation] The report should be of great concern to the Fed, “analysts wrote New York News.
The prices of goods, such as housing, groceries, air fares and new and used vehicles, set new records in various categories, the Department of Labor revealed.
Biden pointed to the oil companies, highlighting ExxonMobil for not producing more oil.
“Exxon made more money than God this year,” he said, advocating for raising taxes on oil companies.
ExxonMobil posted massive profits for the first three months of the year despite lower oil and natural gas volumes, as crude oil prices rose after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Biden noted that oil companies have 9,000 drilling permits, but “they were not drilling.”
“Why aren’t they drilling? Because they make more money by not producing more oil, “Biden said in comments to the Los Angeles port hours after the government released a devastating inflation report that reflected rising energy prices.
And with the highest profits, “they buy back their own shares, which should be taxed quite frankly,” he added.
“Buy your own shares and not make new investments.”
After a terrible 2020 amid Covid-19 blockades that devastated oil demand, oil companies returned to profitability in 2021 and have continued to see profits skyrocketing this year.
Biden said the government had released 30 million barrels of reserve oil and reiterated its call for legislation to prosecute companies such as shipping companies that are taking advantage of limited competition to impose sharp price hikes.
But he acknowledged that rising inflation was a serious problem, and said in an earlier statement that the United States “needs to do more, and faster, to bring down prices.”
– with AFP
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