No End in Sight as Another Inflation Measure Spikes – Opinion

The economy is not in good shape by any standard. There are several measures of inflation in data coming out of January that just aren’t good. New data out today continues to not only confirm that it’s not good but getting worse.

The producer price index is showing similar data to what we saw in last week’s reporting.

New York (CNN Business)America’s high prices didn’t budge in January. The price of goods and services rose in January, another important indicator of inflation.

The producer price index, which tracks average price changes America’s producers get paid for their goods and services over time, rose 9.7% in the 12 months ended in January, not adjusted for seasonal swings, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. This was much higher than expected by economists, although it was 0.1 percentage points lower than the revision series high at the end 2021.

For the month of January alone, prices rose 1%, adjusted for seasonal swings, dwarfing both the price increase from December and economists’ expectations. Only 0.5% was predicted by forecasters.

The inflation gauge saw 0.9% growth in January after excluding food, energy, and trade services. This is the largest increase since January 2021. The core price index rose 6.9% over the 12-month period. That’s a 0.1% decrease compared with December.

The end is not in sight. Americans are experiencing steep price increases across the board and no indication that inflation is decreasing. It’s got a lot of Democrats nervous, with Joe Manchin coming out to essentially say that the Build Back Better plan is dead and Nancy Pelosi doing her best to spin the situation away. But despite the spin, consumers aren’t fooled. The situation is getting worse.

The problem is that the Biden administration can’t really do anything substantial to reverse what’s happening. The economy was made worse by legislation that provided a lot of money. It made matters worse by cutting jobs in the energy industry. Nothing they’ve done so far has made anything better.

Voters are keenly aware of what’s going on, too. It is something that they are aware of. It is something they feel. To ignore it like Pelosi did only makes them even more angry. It’s a big reason both the House and Senate are in play, and why nearly six out of ten Americans disapprove of Biden’s job performance.

Things will only get worse until there’s any chance of improving. There isn’t a ceiling on inflation (or, at least, one we can see right now), and while the last jobs report was better than expected, there’s still the fact that inflation is outperforming job numbers and wage growth. The average American can’t get any relief.