‘Things are getting better’: Biden says US economy ‘headed in right direction’ as inflation rate falls

‘In a world where inflation is rising at double digits in many major economies around the world. Inflation is coming down in America,’ Biden says

President Joe Biden on Tuesday said his economic policies continue to pay dividends and improve conditions in the US after the inflation rate continued dropping for a fifth consecutive month.

Speaking from the White House, Mr Biden pointed out that the falling inflation rate puts the US in sharp contrasts with economies all over the world that are still seeing prices spike at record levels.

“In a world where inflation is rising at double digits in many major economies around the world. Inflation is coming down in America,” he said.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation rose by only 0.1 per cent in November after it rose by 0.4 per cent in October and by 7.1 per cent in the past 12 months, the smallest it had been since the period ending in December 2021.

The index for food increased by 0.5 points in the last month but the energy index dropped by 1.6 per cent in the past month as the indexes for gasoline, natural gas and electricity all fell.

The president acknowledged that prices still remain too high, and stressed that there is still “a lot more work to do” to bring them down to pre-pandemic levels. But he struck an optimistic tone by noting that “things are getting better” and are “headed in the right direction”.

He noted that two key inflation categories — prices for gasoline and food — have fallen and continue to fall, with petrol stations charging prices which are lower than they were a year and a half ago, giving Americans “a break” on energy costs.

Mr Biden called the slowing inflation rate for food prices “welcome news for families across the country as they get ready for holiday celebrations and for family dinners” and credited his economic strategy, which is focused on economic growth “from the bottom up and the middle out,” with strong growth numbers that have seen over 10 million new jobs added on his watch.

“Today's news gives me another reason to be optimistic about that future. We're building a better America and our economy from bottom up and the middle out, not the top down. And when poor have a shot, the middle class do well and the wealthy always do very well,” he said. “We just have to keep going”.