Another economic report, another 40-year high in inflation. And U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is not amused.
In what’s becoming a common occurrence, the Labor Department on Friday released a report indicating that the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index leaped 6.6 percent for the year ending in March.
The index measures the goods that consumers most often buy, including gas and food. This was the third consecutive month the index had posted a 6-plus percent gain, and was the highest annual spike since January 1982, according to CNN.
The increase should be troublesome for the Biden administration, which earlier this week reported that the nation’s GDP actually shrunk by 1.4 percent during the first quarter of 2022.
CNN noted that this index is the Federal Reserve’s “favorite inflation measure” because it shows the economy’s effect on consumer goods. The boost only supported the notion that the Fed will continue to jack up interest rates to try to get inflation under control.
Meanwhile, CNN reported that the personal savings rate dropped to 6.2 percent in March, the lowest level in nine years. That means Americans are digging deeper into savings, or are not making enough to be able to save, as inflation rages.
In a press release issued Friday, Scott’s office noted, “This data shows how President [Joe] Biden’s inflation crisis, caused by his and Democrats’ socialist policies and reckless government spending, is shrinking budgets for families as the prices of everyday goods continue to skyrocket.”
In his own statement, Scott added, “Inflation is a tax on every American and under President Biden’s failed leadership, that tax is going up every month.”
“Joe Biden can keep lying about how ‘great’ the economy is doing and using all the excuses he wants, but here are the facts: inflation is the worst we’ve seen in more than 40 years, the economy is shrinking, labor participation is shockingly low and labor costs are at record highs we haven’t seen in two decades.”
“For small businesses and our poorest families, like mine growing up, Biden’s raging inflation crisis is absolutely devastating,” Scott said.
“Hardworking Floridians simply can’t afford another two-and-a-half-years of Joe Biden’s reckless, socialist policies and tax and spend agenda.”
Scott informs Floridians with a weekly update of his take on the inflation crisis that took root under Biden.
Last week, when another report showed that overall inflation was up 8.5 percent, the highest jump in 41 years, Scott lamented that Americans “are having to choose between gas and groceries. Shelves are empty. Gas prices are skyrocketing. What has Biden done to fix it? NOTHING.”
“For over a year I have been warning about Biden’s growing inflation crisis, and I won’t stop fighting his reckless tax-and-spend agenda that is plaguing families across our nation. Our country can’t afford his continued missteps and failures.”
Also last week, Axios reported that GOP lawmakers are hammering home the “Bidenflation” message, and that Scott is among the leaders promoting that the most.
Since the beginning of the year through April 13, he has mentioned inflation as a problem created by Biden 107 times – which is the seventh-highest number for Republican lawmakers.
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