US President Donald Trump on Wednesday blamed his predecessor Joe Biden for last month’s unexpected acceleration in consumer inflation, as he looked to deflect a moment of potential political peril early in his second term.
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The consumer price index (CPI) edged up to 3.0 per cent in January from a year ago, the US Labour Department said in a statement – slightly above economists’ estimates.
Stripping away volatile food and energy costs, so-called core inflation rose by 3.3 per cent over the past 12 months, which was also slightly above expectations.
“BIDEN INFLATION UP!” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after the data was published, seeking to blame Biden for the CPI figures, which included 12 days in which was Trump was in office.
“It’s far worse than I think anybody anticipated, because unfortunately, the previous administration was not transparent in where the economy truly was,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in Washington later on Wednesday.
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Inflation increased by 0.5 per cent in January from a month earlier, while core inflation rose by 0.4 per cent.