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President Joe Biden will talk about the latest inflation report, which showed that prices in the U.S. have risen at their fastest annual rate since the early 1980s.
Government economists said on Friday that prices rose 1% between April and May. Last month’s jump pushed up year-on-year domestic prices to 8.6%, the highest rate since 1981.
In a statement issued before his live statements in Los Angeles, Biden assured the Americans that his administration is exploring all available options to reduce costs.
“Today’s report highlights why I have made fighting inflation my top economic priority,” Biden said in the prepared statement.
He again blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine for record gasoline prices. The national average price of a gallon of regular gasoline hit a new all-time high of $ 4.986 on Friday.
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, speaks during a visit to the port of Los Angeles, during the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California, USA, June 10, 2022.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
“Putin’s price hike affected May here and around the world: high prices for pumped petrol, energy and food prices accounted for about half of monthly price increases, and Gasoline pump prices have risen by $ 2 a gallon in many places since then. Russian troops have begun threatening Ukraine, “he added. “While we continue to work to defend freedom in Ukraine, we need to do more, and quickly, to bring down prices here in the United States.”
Biden called on Congress to pass legislation to reduce the prices of shipping, prescription drugs, and energy, and promoted efforts to increase U.S. oil and gas production. At the same time, he warned energy executives not to abuse a contraction in global oil supply “as a reason to make matters worse for families with excessive profit taking or rising prices.”
Economists say that while the president and his economic team are doing their best to increase the supply of goods and services, it is likely that everyday Americans will have to wait a little longer for price increases to slow down.
The Federal Reserve, the US central bank in charge of managing inflation, has begun raising interest rates and withdrawing stimulus from Covid-19 in an effort to control consumer and corporate loan demand.
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