An economist says “[a]s long as the Treasury continues borrowing trillions of dollars, we’ll continue to see elevated inflation” after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday that inflation was 0.2% in July with a year-over-year rate of 3.2%

“Inflation has not been trending towards 3%, but 2%. Now that we’ve arrived there, there’s no indication we’re going lower,” EJ Antoni, a research fellow for regional economics in the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal in a written statement Thursday. (The Daily Signal is The Heritage Foundation’s news outlet.)

“Biden’s draining of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve put downward pressure on prices over the last year, but that was never a long-term strategy,” Antoni added. “There is very little keeping down prices going forward. As long as the Treasury continues borrowing trillions of dollars, we’ll continue to see elevated inflation.”

Antoni added:

The CPI also understates many costs to consumers. For example, the monthly mortgage payment on a median price home is now twice what it was when Biden took office. That will cost a family an additional $12,000 a year, for the same house.

The food index rose 0.2%, the energy index rose 0.1%, the fuel oil index rose 3%, the utility (piped) gas service index rose 2%, and the shelter index rose 0.4%, while the energy services index decreased 0.1%, the electricity index decreased 0.7%, the used cars and trucks index decreased 1.3%, and the medical care services index decreased 0.4%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Today’s report shows that our economy remains strong. Annual inflation has fallen by around two thirds since last summer, and inflation outside of food and energy has fallen to its lowest level in any three-month period since September 2021,” President Joe Biden said in a written statement.

“We’ve made this progress while maintaining the broad strength of our economy: unemployment remains near record lows, a higher share of working age Americans are working now than in 20 years, real wages for the average American worker are growing and are higher than they were before the pandemic—with lower wage workers seeing the largest gains,” Biden added. “We’re growing the economy from the middle out and bottom up, lowering costs for hardworking families, and making smart investments in America: that’s Bidenomics.”

“Headline inflation is more than 50% higher than the Federal Reserve’s target rate and grew last month on a year-over-year basis compared to June,” Alfredo Ortiz, chief executive officer and president of Job Creators Network, said in a Thursday statement. “This accelerating inflation shows the inflation fight is far from over, no matter what Democrats and the media say.”

“The Fed’s historic interest rate hikes have caused significant problems for small businesses and dramatically reduced their access to credit, but they haven’t been enough to overcome the Biden administration’s reckless spending and anti-energy policies responsible for persistent BIdenflation,” he said.

Ortiz added:

Core inflation continues to rise faster than average wages, meaning American living standards are stagnant. Over the course of BIden’s term, inflation has increased by more than 16%, far faster than average wages. For some items, such as food, inflation is up 20% or more.

In the July inflation report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation held at 0.2% in June with a year-over-year rate of 3%.

In June, the food index increased 0.1%, the energy index increased 0.6%, the gasoline (all types) index increased 1%, and the shelter index increased 0.4%, while the fuel oil index decreased 0.4%, the utility (piped) gas service index decreased 1.7%, and the used cars and trucks index decreased 0.5%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The bureau will release the August consumer price index report on Sept. 13 at 8:30 a.m.

This is a breaking story and may be updated.

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