Editorial: It’s still the inflation, Mr. President

Our economy is in great shape, according to President Biden. It’s the media that has it wrong.

As The Hill reported, Biden expressed confidence in the economy and ripped reporters for the way it has been portrayed before boarding the presidential helicopter Saturday.

“All good. Take a look. Start reporting it the right way,” Biden said when asked about his economic outlook for 2024, according to a transcript released Sunday by the White House.

True, the economy has bounced back from the pandemic, thanks in part to Biden’s spending trillions of dollars of economic relief and investments.

And the unemployment rate was just 3.7% in November — barely above the pre-pandemic level of 3.5%, which was a five-decade low. Annual inflation has also fallen from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022 to 3.1%  in November.

So why are his poll numbers in the basement?

Is it because of reporting, or reality?

What Biden and other Capitol Hill elites ignore at their peril is that when inflation hit Americans, it hit hard.

A 2022 survey for Forbes Advisor found that approximately 40% of respondents with credit cards were relying on them more. As for a balance, 26% of respondents started carrying them on their credit cards, in addition to the 38% who were already carrying a balance. They put purchases on credit cards because inflation sent prices soaring.

When the Federal Reserve started hiking interest rates to counter inflation, that spiked credit card APRs as well – a double whammy for those trying to make ends meet.

About those great job numbers: a November Bankrate survey found that less than a third (29%) of employed Americans said their pay has matched or exceeded inflation this year, down from 33% in 2022. Even the workers who got a raise of some kind were less likely than they were last year to say that their income had kept pace or beat inflation, at 36% in Bankrate’s 2023 poll versus 39% in 2022.

For workers who haven’t gotten any pay increases, 72% say their incomes haven’t at least kept pace with their rising cost of living.

This played out at Christmas tables around the country. Category Partners forecast that the price of buying ingredients for Christmas dinner at a supermarket to be approximately 7% higher than in 2022. Using supermarket sales data provided by NielsenIQ collected from more than 35,000 U.S. food stores, a basic Christmas dinner in 2023 purchased from a supermarket for a family of four priced out at approximately $50.56, compared to $47.25 in 2022.

But even with slower inflation, prices remain 18.5% higher than at Christmas 2021.

Americans are still feeling the effects of inflation where it counts – putting food on the table for their families. And while they may be happy to have a job, or even got a raise, that paycheck boosting isn’t keeping up.

It doesn’t help your optics to rail at reporters about the economy a few days before you jet off to St. Croix for New Year’s.

Inflation isn’t just about numbers and the ups and downs of percentages, Mr. President. It’s being able to afford good, healthy food and to pay bills with hopefully a little left over.

Step away from the Beltway bubble, and listen to the people.