Inflation accelerated in November year-on-year in the United States, registering its largest increase since 1982, as strong consumer demand again collided with supply problems linked to the pandemic. This is bad news for President Joe Biden, who announced last month that his “top priority” was to reverse the inflation curve.
The price increase amounted to 6.8% last month compared to November 2020, after + 6.2% in October, according to the consumer price index (CPI) released Friday by the Labor Department. This is in line with analysts’ expectations. Like last month, prices in the energy sector increased the most over one year (+ 33.3%).
Excluding the volatile energy and food sectors, inflation also remains strong (+ 4.9%). Even before the publication of the November inflation figures, Joe Biden had indicated that prices were remained high in November. But he was quick to minimize the scope, stressing that it did not reflect “today’s reality”, highlighting the drop in energy prices in recent weeks, after collection data for the November report. In addition, these data “do not reflect the price reductions expected in the weeks and months to come, as in the automotive market,” he also assured.
Compared to the previous month, the price increase recorded in November slowed down slightly: + 0.8% against + 0.9% in October. But the increase is higher than analysts’ projections (+ 0.6%), a sign that inflation is persistent. The investigation was carried out before the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, which poses a new threat to the US and global economy. Some economists anticipate an exacerbation of the logistical problems linked to new sources of contamination around the world, which could accentuate the inflationary surge.
(With AFP)
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