WH NEC Head: Food Prices ‘Moving up Too Fast’ and ‘We Need to Make More Progress’ on That

On Thursday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Bloomberg Markets: The Open,” White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese stated that in both the September inflation report and previous reports, food prices “are moving up too fast. And that’s something that we need to make more progress on.”

Deese stated, [relevant remarks begin around 37:10] “We always say that we look at the data in the aggregate and there’s a reason to look in the fullness of overall inflation and then also to look at elements of the core, like I just said. For typical American families, gas and food are big parts of their typical budget, and food prices, in this report, and in prior reports, are moving up too fast. And that’s something that we need to make more progress on. So, we look at all of the data. And understand the point about gas prices is just a very salient one. Your outlet and various others, over the course of the spring, spent a lot of time focused on the increase in gas prices and the impact that has on the economy, on consumer sentiment. Now that they’re coming down, it’s important to recognize that that has an impact on the economy as well.”

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