High inflation during President Joe Biden’s term will result in voters paying significantly higher prices as they cast their ballots in the 2024 election.
Prices since November 2020 have increased by roughly 21%, with year-over-year inflation under Biden peaking at about 9% in June 2022 and decelerating to its current annual rate of 2.4% as of September, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics analyzed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Price hikes for a slew of products have well-exceeded the overall price rise, including household staples like eggs and butter, which rose by approximately 163% and 50% between November 2020 and September 2024, respectively.
Beef products have also been hit hard by Biden-era inflation, with prices for uncooked beef roasts rising over 31%, uncooked ground beef climbing nearly 27% and uncooked beef steaks increasing approximately 28%, according to BLS. Meanwhile, the price of bread is up over 23% and bakery products up almost 27%.
“Inflation has been one of the most brutal drivers of the pressure being felt by everyday consumers in recent years. Almost nobody can keep up with the cumulative rise in prices,” O.H. Skinner, executive director of the Alliance for Consumers and the former solicitor general of Arizona, told the DCNF. “It’s deeply upsetting to many people when headlines focus on individual inflation prints or annual inflation numbers and don’t recognize that the prices staring at consumers from the store shelves are shocking because the inflation that has cumulatively built up has reshaped the shopping experience in a brutal way.”
Inflation sat at just 1.4% when Biden took over from former President Donald Trump while cumulative inflation during Trump’s presidency was just around 8%. A May ABC News / Ipsos poll found 44% of 2,200 potential voters surveyed trusted Trump on inflation while just 30% trusted Biden.
The Federal Reserve raised its federal funds rate to a 23-year high range of 5.25% and 5.50% in July 2023 in a bid to combat price hikes, holding the rate steady for eight straight meetings before announcing a 0.50% cut in September. The combination of high inflation and elevated interest rates has dogged American wallets, with delinquent credit card balances reaching their highest level in twelve years in the first quarter of 2024 and the personal savings rate falling from over 25% during the pandemic to 4.8% in August.
Some economists attribute elevated inflation to profligate government spending, with the national debt growing from $27.75 trillion when Biden took office on Jan. 20, 2021, to $35.69 trillion on Wednesday.
The price of non-alcoholic beverages and juices rose almost 22.5%, bolstered by the subcategory of frozen non-carbonated juices and drinks, for which prices inflated by nearly 51%. Together, increases in food and shelter prices accounted for more than three quarters of inflation in September, with the food index experiencing a 0.4% month-over-month increase, far higher than its August increase of 0.1%.
“Inflation has increased by 21% under the Biden-Harris administration, resulting in declining real wages and a cost of living crisis for ordinary Americans,” Alfredo Ortiz, president of the Jobs Creator Network, said in a statement to the DCNF following Thursday’s BLS report. “Only by electing conservatives who believe in a sound dollar, economic growth, and deficit reduction can we finally make America affordable again.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Featured Image Credit: The White House
