by Hans Nichols
Axios
Last week, President Biden got the jobs report he wanted. Today, he got the inflation numbers he didn’t.
Why it matters: Inflation is rearing its ugly head again and it’s a nightmare for Biden on several fronts.
- Stubbornly high prices undercut his argument that the economy is much better than many Americans are willing to admit — or at least tell pollsters.
- It also means that Fed Chair Jerome Powell is likely to wait for more data before starting to lower interest rates. A June cut — which forecasters had been expecting — appears less likely.
- For voters, that will translate into higher borrowing costs for longer — and closer to Election Day.
Driving the news: The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday, coming in hotter than expected.