White House: PPI Inflation Hitting 11-Month High 'Tempers' Worries, 'Inflation Has Been Coming Down'

On Thursday's broadcast of Bloomberg's “Balance of Power,” White House Council of Economic Advisers member Heather Boushey stated that the March PPI inflation data, which showed the highest level in almost a year, “tempers” worries in the wake of the CPI report and argued that “We continue to see this economy delivering for the American people,” and “it's clear that we have been on this path of lowering prices over time, inflation has been coming down, and I think we continue to be on that trajectory. Granted, it has been a little bit slower more lately.”

Boushey said, “As the president noted, we have brought inflation down markedly, it's down by 60%. And the economy continues to grow at a healthy clip. We saw over 300,000 jobs last Friday. We got that for March. We continue to see this economy delivering for the American people, and the president continues to work to make sure that he's lowering costs for families, even as he is focused on growing the economy from the middle out.”

Co-host Joe Mathieu then asked, “[T]alk to us about the PPI data this morning. Everyone seems to be feeling at least a bit of relief after a freakout that followed the CPI yesterday. To the extent that this is a forward-looking indicator, what does it tell you about the trajectory for prices?”

Boushey responded, “Well, certainly, when we got the CPI data yesterday, it came in hotter than expected. It was at the same rate as in February. And so, that was sort of — made us all, like, oh, well, we're not seeing the kind of lower inflation that we'd like to see. But certainly, today's news, I think tempers that a little bit. It muddies the forecast, if you will. If we had gotten something hotter, maybe we would think that the trajectory had changed. But I think it's clear that we have been on this path of lowering prices over time, inflation has been coming down, and I think we continue to be on that trajectory. Granted, it has been a little bit slower more lately. But, of course, we are down now in the 3% range for inflation, and that is far below where we were during the peak of the higher inflation rates.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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