Biden And Obama Push Inflation To Highest Rate Since May 2023, Those Monsters
New vehicle prices down slightly. Trump may take credit for that.
High fossil fuel prices caused by Donald Trump’s stupid war on Iran pushed inflation in April to the highest level in almost three years, according to the monthly Consumer Price Index report released by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning. The most important questions for the Trump administration are now who to fire at the Labor Department over the bad news, and how exactly to pin the inflation increase on Joe Biden and/or undocumented immigrants.
Inflation on a year-to-year basis rose to 3.8 percent, the highest it’s been since May 2023, when the rate was on its way down from a 2022 peak caused by post-pandemic supply chain disruptions. If inflation keeps rising this month, that’ll make next month’s inflation report headlines a lot easier to write since it’ll be a nice round three years. This small boon for headline writers is just one of the blessings of the Trump presidency for which the Great Leader may not even get proper credit.
Gasoline prices rose 5.4 percent in April, up by about 30 percent from last year. The BLS statement notes that energy prices overall rose by 3.8 percent, “accounting for over forty percent of the monthly all items increase.” The gasoline inflation rate would have been 11.1 percent in plain old at-the-pump price increases, but for statistical purposes was adjusted to the lower 5.4 percent to reflect the normal cost shift for “summer blend” gasoline. Electricity rates were up 2.1 percent, and fuel oil, which yikes, people still use, was up 5.8 percent.
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While oil prices have been the biggest direct driver of inflation in the months since Trump went to war against Iran without (probably) knowing there is any such place as the Strait of Hormuz, high fuel prices have only just started to drive up costs of nearly everything else, because the world’s economy remains over-dependent on fossil fuels. In a message to clients Monday, Citigroup predicted that “Energy costs likely would not start to feed through to core goods prices for at least a few more months.”
But the rise in fuel costs has already hit airfares, which are up 20 percent over last year, as well as apparel, especially your super-wasteful “fast fashion” that’s shipped directly from China and elsewhere. Jet fuel is up 60 percent since the start of the Stupid War, resulting not only in higher airfares but also new baggage fees. The jet fuel crisis that’s hitting Europe and Asia is only incrementally reflected in the US inflation rate, in the form of surcharges by some international carriers serving the USA.
Even the US Postal service introduced a “limited time price change” due to fuel costs in April; we’re sure that will be reduced once everything is back to normal, whenever that may be.
Grocery prices rose by the highest amount in four years, for a total rise of 0.7 percent. That was driven in large part by the increasing cost of beef, up 2.7 percent. As you’ll recall, higher beef prices are entirely the fault of “Biden vegans” who hate America and think climate change is real, although even administration mouthpieces acknowledge that persistent drought has played a large role. But darn it, those vegans wouldn’t allow overgrazing because they think it’s “bad” somehow.
In related beef news, we got yet another reminder Monday that nobody in the Great Dipshit’s administration knows what the fuck they’re doing from day to day. Trump was initially scheduled to sign an executive order to reduce his own tariffs on imported beef, but then the administration delayed that plan (Wall Street Journal gift link) because US beef producers and Republicans in Congress had a cow, for which they wanted as much money as possible. That fuckery was not reflected in the April inflation numbers, but as with the economic ripple effects of the Stupid War, just give it time.
Housing costs also blipped up in April by 0.6 percent; the Washington Post notes (gift link) that shelter prices “had been artificially suppressed by a data quirk tied to last fall’s government shutdown.” In defiance of Donald Trump logic, it turns out that not actually measuring the costs didn’t keep them from rising, a problem that could be solved by never reporting them again.
The higher cost of nearly everything also is gobbling up workers’ buying power, since for the first time since 2023, inflation is going up more rapidly than wages. Haha, remember how just last week Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins was lying about that, claiming that wage growth only outpaced inflation since Trump came to office? Per NBC News,
The pace of wage gains has been slowing over the past two years. In November, wage growth continued to rise at a pace of almost 4%. April’s jobs report, which was released on Friday, showed that wage growth had slowed to 3.6%.
We’ll close with one more reminder that All Trump Fuckery Is Connected, even when it’s not related to the Stupid War: The New York Times reports that food prices have been impacted ever since Trump raised tariffs on imported steel. His goal was to boost US steel production, but of course there aren’t many US steel companies making “tin plate,” the thin steel that’s coated with tin to make food cans. Eighty percent of it has to be imported. For canned fruits or vegetables, the can itself accounts for about a third of the wholesale cost, so pricier imported tin plate equals more expensive food.
But hey, huge good news for Trump! US Steel, the biggest tin plate manufacturer, announced it will restart a factory in Gary, Indiana, sometime in early 2027, creating about 225 permanent jobs. The plant was idled in 2022 because US Steel couldn’t compete with lower-priced imported tin plate. But now steel costs more (and is driving up grocery prices) so hooray, one factory is reopening and the economy is saved! Just one little teensy problem: even with the projected increase in domestic production, the Times points out, “American can makers are likely to import over two-thirds of their tin plate in the coming years, steel executives and analysts said.”
And because the Trump administration demanded that the US government get a “golden share” in US Steel before it could be sold to Japan’s Nippon Steel last year, the administration has a say in its US operations, so it’s not even clear whether the factory in Gary is being restarted because it makes good business sense, as the administration claims, or because it’ll give Trump a “victory” on tariffs.
Ultimately, that won’t matter anyway, because once Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden are jailed and all the traitors at BLS are fired, we will officially have the greatest economy with the most jobs and lowest inflation in human history, as reflected in numbers it will be illegal to question.
Also, before leaving for China today, where he’s almost certain to say something insane, Trump acknowledged that he really doesn’t care, do U? Asked whether the rough times for Americans play any role in his thinking — to put it charitably — about his Stupid War, Trump said nah, the only thing that matters is stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, which Barack Hussein Obama already did before Trump tore up that deal.
Acyn shoulda definitely added “…” to show that “Not even a little bit” was followed by Trump’s super tough talk about not letting Iran get nukes. For fairness.
But considering all the times Republicans have lied that Hillary Clinton promised to put coal miners out of job (and to get them training and new work) or that Nancy Pelosi believed Obamacare was a secret (not even remotely what she said), we won’t complain too much if Trump is permanently saddled with having said, “I don't think about Americans’ financial situation. I don't think about anybody.” Sure, we’ll add the footnote about nukes, too.
OPEN THREAD.
[Bureau of Labor Statistics / NBC News / WaPo (gift link) / WSJ (gift link) / NYT]
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Gary, Indiana, Gary, Indiana, Gary, Indiana.
Let me say it once again.
Harry says Tuesday is not snooze day, wake up mama I need breakfast and for you to open the blinds so I can look out the window. #CatLife
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