Americans have been slammed by high prices in all areas of their daily lives from car insurance to utilities to the gas station to the grocery store. People are struggling to pay their bills as the president keeps telling them that the economy is great, and all his policies are helping Americans.

That out of touch propaganda was exposed this week when reality hit Bidenomics like a ton of bricks. The economy is racing, indeed, but the speed at which it is increasing inflation is heading toward a breaking point.

Joe Biden was hit with this reality this week when a key inflation indicator was released by his administration. Federal financial officials know that this indicator shows the economy is not in great shape and people are about to endure more pain in their pocketbooks.

From Breitbart:
The pace of price hikes faced by American households accelerated in January to its fastest in a year, challenging the notion that high inflation is receding.

The personal consumption expenditure price index, known as the PCE price index, rose 0.3 percent in January.

That may not sound like much, but people need to pay attention to this increase. Why? Because it is a big concern for Federal Reserve officials who watch this number very closely.

The good news over the last year has been that the PCE was dropping. This had federal officials, and the stock market, looking at the numbers positively. Year over year indicators of inflation had been falling as the historically high figures at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 began to drop out of the equation. December came in at a 2.6 percent increase thanks to figures falling off the table.

But then 2024 hit like a hammer… at least in PCE calculations. The PCE in January was up by 2.4 percent compared to 12 months ago. It was down compared to December, so why the concern? Look at what the Federal Reserve is watching, not what the media touts as a positive gain.

The core PCE price index, which excludes food and energy prices, rose .4 percent. That means the rate of increase in inflation for this segment was four times the downwardly revised 0.1 percent increase for the prior month.

This shows that the core index is up 2.8 percent over the past 12 months. The reality of this number is that it is the largest monthly increase in core PCE inflation since the beginning of last year.

That means inflation is still hitting pocketbooks hard. Annualized PCE figures are now sitting at 5.1 percent. The Federal Reserve has held that annualized rates should be moving back to their 12-month target of 2 percent.

Inflation is still more than double what the Fed sees as acceptable. This means the Fed is balking at lowering interest rates which are keeping inflation costs high across the board within the economy.

The PCE is different than the more broadly known consumer price index (CPI). The CPI was also higher in January by .3 percent and up 3.4 percent for the year. Core CPI, which the Fed also closely watches, rose .4 percent for January and was up 3.9 percent from the prior year.

CPI is considered a measure of the cost of goods and services while PCE reveals what businesses and consumers are paying for household consumption – what hits their pocketbooks directly. The PCE takes a broader look at all costs for consumers. PCE accounts for such aspects of a consumer budget where households buy lower-grade food products if inflation has pushed prices too high to afford.

The PCE numbers released this week are “in line” with what Wall Street expected, but that doesn’t mean a thing to consumers still burdened by inflated costs for goods they need. This is a number to watch going forward in 2024, especially when the presidential election historically boils down to the economy.

Key Takeaways:

• Joe Biden was rocked by a new report showing people are suffering under inflation.
• The personal consumption expenditure price index (PCE) spiked again in January.
• The new data shows that the PCE is more than double what the Fed wants to see.

Source: Breitbart