“President Trump is inheriting an economy from President Biden where inflation still threatens families’ savings and prices are still sky high.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the final Consumer Price Index (CPI) report of the Biden-Harris Administration, showing inflation rose 21 percent on President Biden’s watch: 

“When Americans reflect on the past four years, they will remember the lasting sticker shock from checking out at the grocery store or paying at the pump thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s reckless spending. Working-class families were left paying the price for Democrats’ welfare for the wealthy and handouts to big banks, billion-dollar corporations, and Communist China.

“President Trump is inheriting an economy from President Biden where inflation still threatens families’ savings and prices are still sky high. President Trump’s policies are the right ones to help working families and January 20th can’t come soon enough. We have seen the results of pro-worker, pro-family economic policies before: The Trump tax cuts made American workers and businesses more productive, which helped keep prices low and stable for working-class families. The economy grew a full percentage point faster than the Congressional Budget Office projected. Republicans in Congress will partner with President Trump to get his agenda signed into law, give certainty to working families and small businesses, and unleash America’s economic potential.”

Key Background:

• Everything Costs More: Prices have increased 21 percent since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration.
• Americans Making Less: Real wages and benefits have fallen 3.2 percent since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration.
• Inflation Above Fed’s Target: For 45 straight months, inflation has been above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target.
• Inflation Higher Than Wages: Inflation outpaced wages for 26 straight months under the Biden-Harris Administration.
• Historic Interest Rates: Under the Biden-Harris Administration, interest rates hit their highest levels in 23 years.
• Mortgage Costs 88 Percent Higher: The monthly mortgage payment for a median priced new home has increased by nearly $1,000 and is over 88 percent higher than when President Biden and Vice President Harris took office in January 2021.
• $1 Trillion+ Credit Card Debt: Credit card interest rates are at their highest levels in more than three decades, while consumer credit debt has exceeded $1 trillion for six calendar quarters. The number of Americans struggling to pay credit card bills has increased to levels not seen since the great financial crisis. More than 11 percent of credit card balances are more than 90 days past due.
• Shrinking Savings: Thanks to higher prices, families have spent the entirety of their pandemic savings by 2024, and they are able to save less of their income. The average personal savings rate since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office is 2.9 percent lower than the pre-Biden-Harris average and it remains comparatively low at 4.4 percent today.
• Families Falling Behind on Bills: Over one-third of families (37 percent) paid a late fee in the past year.