The White House on Monday prepared Americans for “highly elevated” inflation numbers when the Labor Department this week releases its consumer price index, a key gauge of inflation.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blamed the expected bad numbers on gas prices and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
“We expect the headline number, which includes gas and food to be highly elevated mainly because gas prices were so elevated in June,” she told reporters at the White House. “Gas and food prices continue to be heavily impacted by the war in Ukraine.”
The consumer price index, which will be released Wednesday, is considered the nation’s most prominent inflation gauge because it measures the percentage change in prices for household goods.
However, Ms. Jean-Pierre insisted that the June CPI numbers will “be out of date” on arrival because gas prices have already dipped and are expected to continue to decline in the coming weeks. Gas prices have dropped for 27 consecutive days, according to data from GasBuddy.
Gas prices hit a record high of $5 per gallon last month, which will be factored into the June CPI numbers. The White House has blamed the rising oil prices on The war in Ukraine because Moscow is a leading oil exporter. The war and sanctions slapped on Russia have decreased supply, thus increasing the price of fuel on the global market.
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President Biden will visit Saudi Arabia this week and try to convince the oil-rich nation to pump more to help decrease prices.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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