WASHINGTON
- Consumer prices jumped sharply last month, rising more than
previously forecast for just about everything we buy, from a gallon of
gas to the food we eat.
It's bad enough that over the past six years Americans have had to suffer from painfully weak economic growth, too few jobs, flat wages and rising taxes, under President Obama's policies. But now we're facing rising inflation that economists say will only get worse.
Consumer prices increased at more than a 4 percent annual rate in May, rising for the second month in a row, pushing inflation in the past year to its highest level since 2012, according to the Department of Labor.
Food prices alone rose 0.5 percent in May, the sharpest rise in three years. They're up by 2.5 percent in just the last 12 months, the fastest in almost two years.
Energy prices were rising at an even faster rate, up by 0.9 percent -- led by higher electricity and gasoline rates. The reason: administration regulatory policies that have pushed up utility costs, stymied oil exploration and blocked completion of the Canadian oil pipeline.
Economics columnist Robert J. Samuelson called the president's opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico "an act of national insanity."
Other economists have been equally critical of his oil policies.
Obama "has not been willing to open up drilling for oil off the Atlantic, Pacific and much of the Gulf coasts. That keeps America dependent on imported oil, and sends consumer dollars abroad instead of creating jobs here," says University of Maryland business economist Peter Morici.
Certainly, the war in Iraq has been a major factor, too, as the global price of crude oil has shot up in response to the crisis in the Middle East.
It's bad enough that over the past six years Americans have had to suffer from painfully weak economic growth, too few jobs, flat wages and rising taxes, under President Obama's policies. But now we're facing rising inflation that economists say will only get worse.
Consumer prices increased at more than a 4 percent annual rate in May, rising for the second month in a row, pushing inflation in the past year to its highest level since 2012, according to the Department of Labor.
Food prices alone rose 0.5 percent in May, the sharpest rise in three years. They're up by 2.5 percent in just the last 12 months, the fastest in almost two years.
Energy prices were rising at an even faster rate, up by 0.9 percent -- led by higher electricity and gasoline rates. The reason: administration regulatory policies that have pushed up utility costs, stymied oil exploration and blocked completion of the Canadian oil pipeline.
Economics columnist Robert J. Samuelson called the president's opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico "an act of national insanity."
Other economists have been equally critical of his oil policies.
Obama "has not been willing to open up drilling for oil off the Atlantic, Pacific and much of the Gulf coasts. That keeps America dependent on imported oil, and sends consumer dollars abroad instead of creating jobs here," says University of Maryland business economist Peter Morici.
Certainly, the war in Iraq has been a major factor, too, as the global price of crude oil has shot up in response to the crisis in the Middle East.
