From the moment that the 2020 election was called in favor of Joe Biden, there were major concerns among Republicans that the economy was going to be in for a bumpy ride.
Biden, who appeared to be a rather reluctant candidate to begin with, certainly wasn’t the economic shark that Donald Trump was, with the former NYC business mogul having presided over a dominant and profitable turn around in the US markets.
Now, just 9 months into Biden’s first terms, things are turning terrible.
Inflation across a broad swath of products that consumers buy every day was even worse than expected in October, hitting its highest point in more than 30 years, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.
The consumer price index, which is a basket of products ranging from gasoline and health care to groceries and rents, rose 6.2% from a year ago, the most since December 1990. That compared with the 5.9% Dow Jones estimate.
On a monthly basis, the CPI increased 0.9% against the 0.6% estimate.
Stripping out volatile food and energy prices, so-called core CPI was up 0.6% against the estimate of 0.4%. Annual core inflation ran at a 4.6% pace, compared with the 4% expectation and the highest since August 1991.
And, even wilder still:
Fuel oil prices soared 12.3% for the month, part of a 59.1% increase over the past year. Energy prices overall rose 4.8% in October and are up 30% for the 12-month period.
Used vehicle prices again were a big contributor, rising 2.5% on the month and 26.4% for the year. New vehicle prices were up 1.4% and 9.8%, respectively.
The news will certainly affect the 2022 midterm elections as well, as Americans are likely to seek some more fiscally-keen conservatives to combat inflation.
