Rising costs under President Joe Biden are not an optical illusion.
Prices of dental care, eye care, and personal care have increased since 2023, March Consumer Price Index (CPI) data revealed Wednesday:
— Dental services: Up 4.1 percent since March 2023 / Down 0.5 percent since February 2024
— Eyeglasses and eye care: Up 3.1 percent since March 2023 / Up 0.0 percent since February 2024
— Personal care products: Up 3.4 percent since March 2023 / Up 0.2 percent since February 2024
Overall, the consumer price index rose 0.4 percent in March compared with February. The headline index is up 3.5 percent when compared with 12 months earlier, according to Breitbart News’s John Carney:
Economists had forecast a 0.3 percent increase in the month-t0-month figure and a 3.4 percent rise over 12 months.
Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.4 percent for the month, matching the prior month and higher than the 0.3 percent expected. Compared with a year ago, core inflation is up 3.8 percent, also beating expectations and matching the February figure.
When the consumer price index jumped higher in January, many analysts said it was likely a seasonal anomaly and forecast inflation would soon start falling again. After three months of hotter-than-expected inflation, that is no longer a plausible interpretation. Over the last three months, core inflation has risen at a 4.6 percent annual rate. That is the highest three-month annualized inflation for any period between August 1991 and 2020, according to Harvard economist Jason Furman.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
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