US President Joe Biden speaks on how “Bidenomics” helps clean energy and manufacturing, at Arcosa Wind Towers in Albuquerque, Recent Mexico, on August 9, 2023.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Despite a small rise in inflation last month over June’s rate, President Joe Biden on Thursday insisted that July’s consumer price index of three.2% was just one facet of a broader picture of U.S. economic strength.
“Annual inflation has fallen by around two thirds since last summer,” Biden said in an announcement, calling to mind the soaring inflation rates this time last yr that forced the Federal Reserve to speed up rate of interest hikes in an effort to chill down prices.
“We have made this progress while maintaining the broad strength of our economy,” he said, noting that unemployment remained near 50 yr lows.
And while 3.2% is technically a rise over June’s year-over-year rate of three.0%, it’s below analysts’ estimates of three.3%.
For Biden, who has spent much of the last yr dogged by questions on high prices, signs of costs stabilizing with none jump in unemployment increasingly suggests the U.S. economy might be on course for a so-called “soft landing,” with no recession.
This may be a boon to the president’s reelection campaign, and force Republicans to look for brand spanking new issues to criticize the president over.
“I’m sure they’ll find something,” Biden joked during a speech Wednesday in Recent Mexico.
Still, there are signs the strong economy is just not paying political dividends to the president, a minimum of not yet.
Recent polls show Biden’s approval rankings on his handling of the economy stuck within the low 30s, just 15 months out from the 2024 election.
