Fact Check: White House Says Bidenomics Is Working Because ‘Costs’ Are Going Down

Claim: Bidenomics is working because prices are going down.

“Bidenomics is indeed working when – when we say that — you look at the data, right? Cost is going down, right? We think about inflation,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in an interview this week.

Verdict: False.

In general, products and services purchased by Americans do not cost less than they did in the past. The Labor Department said Thursday that the consumer price index was up 3.1 percent in July compared with a year earlier. Compared with the prior month, the index was up 0.2 percent. Core CPI, which is a measure that excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2 percent for the month and 4.7 percent for the year.

Inflation is the rate of change of prices. When inflation declines, as it has in recent months, this does not mean costs are going down. It means the pace of price increases has slowed. Last summer, prices were rising at around nine percent per year. This summer, they are up just over three percent from a year ago. Costs are going up, not down.