Media downplays alarming new inflation report

Grocery prices have risen at a 4.3% annual pace since February 2020, marking the sharpest increase since 2012. American families are feeling these increased prices across the economy, especially for food, energy, and housing. https://t.co/FnYNt7Bs1O

— Congresswoman Kat Cammack (@RepKatCammack) September 15, 2021

FEE's Brad Polumbo writes, "It’s no secret that the mainstream media has a left-leaning bias. So it’s not exactly surprising that when alarming new inflation data were released on Tuesday, many journalists and media outlets attempted to downplay the story. After all, rising concerns about inflation could hamper the federal government’s ongoing efforts to massively increase government spending and expand the welfare state…

The Washington Post dubbed the new numbers “an early sign that inflation could be easing.”

And CNBC went with a different spin in its headline: “Consumer prices post smaller-than-expected increase in August.”https://t.co/GQyYDDfIRv — FEE (@feeonline) September 14, 2021

Yet when one looks at the actual report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this rosy spin seems utterly unwarranted. It shows that the Consumer Price Index, an average sample of typical consumer prices, rose 0.3 percent in August. This is less than the 0.4 percent increase that had been predicted, prompting the media spin to suggest that August saw 'less inflation than expected.' While perhaps true, this is misleading, because the new figures still show prices seriously on the rise.

On an annual basis, from August 2020 to August 2021, prices rose 5.3 percent. That’s nearly a 13-year high!"

Read the entire column.