The White House conceded it was concerned inflation will continue to cost consumers for a while longer.
“We have concerns, basically,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday. “We certainly look at trends, that is something that we do here, and not read too much into data from one month. That is how we operate here and others do as well.”
“But we certainly understand that there’s more work to be done to lower costs,” she said. “That is something that we are aware of.”
Jean-Pierre was specifically pushed on increased costs for services, for example, car repairs and healthcare, as the White House points to companies and so-called shrinkflation after previously citing supply chains.
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“Prices are still too high,” Jean-Pierre said. “We’re going to do everything that we can to lower costs. That is something that we’ve done, whether it’s junk fees, whether it’s healthcare, whether it’s the Inflation Reduction Act. That also includes healthcare provisions in there so that Medicare can certainly negotiate with Big Pharma, hence lowering some prescription drug costs, which is incredibly important.”
“Energy costs, all of these things are important to the American people, so we’re going to continue to do that,” she added. “Because of the president’s action, he’s been able to lower costs at the pump and so that’s mattered as well. … Obviously we understand there’s more work to be done, but this is an economy that is in a much different place than it was a year ago.”
Nine months before November’s election, the consumer price index increased 0.3% in January, though the annualized rate is down to 3.1% from 3.4% in December.
