The Biden administration struck an unconfident tone to reporters on Monday regarding the imminent release of the Department of Labor’s June consumer price index.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre argued that the numbers would be “highly elevated” due to skyrocketing gas prices last month, which have since stabilized, The Washington Times reported.
“We expect the headline number, which includes gas and food, to be highly elevated mainly because gas prices were so elevated in June,” Jean-Pierre said at a briefing.
“Gas and food prices continue to be heavily impacted by the war in Ukraine, and there are a few important points to keep in mind when we get this backward-looking data,” she added.
Over the past weeks, gasoline prices have dropped substantially around the country, roughly 34 cents from over $5 per gallon in late May and early June. The South and Midwest benefited the most from the recent price drop, according to data from AAA.
President Joe Biden, still significantly underwater in most polls nationally, took credit for the decline in prices on Friday, citing actions taken by his administration to increase the supply, according to The Hill.
“Gas prices, still way too high, have fallen now 25 days in a row, and this week we saw the second-largest single-day decrease in gas prices in a decade,” Biden said. “There’s a lot more work to do. But I am suggesting we’re making progress, the program is working.”
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