CHARLESTON – The U.S. consumer price inflation index rose 7 percent in December, the biggest climb in 40 years.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its monthly report on January 12. The December numbers were higher than the 6.8 percent in November and higher than experts predicted.
The numbers only bolster Sen. Joe Manchin’s concerns about the Biden administration’s Build Back Better legislation.
“Very, very troubling,” Manchin (D-W.Va.) said of the latest BLS index report.
Last month, Manchin announced he couldn’t support the legislation, citing inflation as part of his issue with the bill.
And with the latest BLS index report, Victoria Guida of Politico saying Biden has suffered a new blow to his economic agenda following a warning from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell that inflation poses a “severe threat” to a recovery.
“West Virginians are concerned about rising inflation,” Manchin (D-W.Va.) tweeted in November. “We cannot throw caution to the wind & continue to pile on debt that our country can't afford. …
“By all accounts, the threat posed by record inflation to the American people is not ‘transitory’ and is instead getting worse. From the grocery store to the gas pump, Americans know the inflation tax is real and D.C. can no longer ignore the economic pain Americans feel every day.”
In December, Manchin also told Hoppy Kercheval of MetroNews that “inflation is the biggest threat I think we have right now.”
Some economists say Manchin’s concerns about inflation and its impact on the Build Back Better legislation are off base. But with experts not seeing an end to rising prices yet, others see inflation as being a major theme for all of 2022.
We have to “recognize that inflation is a serious issue, economic and social, in many countries," Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said Wednesday. “Central banks like the Fed are right to take action. But they have to walk a thin path. They have to protect the economy while fighting inflation.
“My concerns have only increased as the pandemic surges on, inflation rises and geopolitical uncertainty increases around the world.”
The latest BLS index report also shows the energy index rose 29.3 percent over the last 12 months, with all major energy component indexes increasing. Gasoline prices rose 49.6 percent over the last year.
In West Virginia, for example, gas prices average $3.209 according to AAA. A year ago, the average price was $2.355.
The BLS report also shows natural gas prices rose 24.1 percent and electricity 6.3 percent in the last 12 months.
Last month, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said there is “nothing temporary” about inflation.
“Thanks to inflation, costs are rapidly rising on everything from a gallon of gas to a gallon of milk,” Capito said. “It’s hurting West Virginians, and it’s hurting families across this country.
“Yet, even with these big red flags, the Biden administration and my Democrat colleagues would rather spend trillions more on liberal wish list items with money we don’t have instead of getting the problem under control.
“And, they want to enact the largest tax hike in decades. These efforts will hit American families with higher prices and greater tax burdens when they can least afford it. There would never be a good time to pass the Democrats’ reckless tax-and-spending spree, but these inflation numbers indicate that now is the absolute worst time for Democrats to do just that.”