WASHINGTON, Feb 10, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - An upcoming government consumer price
report will likely show another lofty spike in US inflation in the first
month of the year, the White House warned on Wednesday.

   Consumer prices rose by seven percent throughout 2021, their fastest pace
in four decades, and the Labor Department's consumer price index (CPI) data
due for release Thursday is anticipated to show a large increase compared to
January 2021.

   "We expect a high yearly inflation reading in tomorrow's data," White
House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. "Above seven percent, as I
think some are predicting, would not be a surprise."

   Biden's approval ratings last year sank amid the spike in inflation caused
by a combination of supply chain snarls, component shortages and the US
economy's rebound from Covid-19.

   While the price increases were particularly severe for used cars and
energy, particularly gasoline, they also hit items like food and rent.

   However, Brian Deese, head of Biden's National Economic Council, said
inflation is a "global phenomenon" that will recede once the pandemic impact
on spending shifts more consumption back towards services.

   "What we're seeing is the impact of a pandemic-affected recovery that is
playing out globally," Deese said during an event organized by the Council on
Foreign Relations.

   "We are moving more things through our supply chain than we ever have
before," amid a "shock to supply," including for labor, he said.

   But Deese, like many economists, expects the price surge to moderate over
the course of 2022, as the shortages and delays are resolved, and as the
Federal Reserve raises interest rates and ends its easy money policies
intended to support the economy during the pandemic.

   Psaki said what the White House is "looking at is recent trends" showing
that "the inflationary increases are decreasing month to month."

   In December, CPI rose 0.5 percent compared to the prior month, less than
the 0.8 percent rate in November.

   "Leading outside forecasters continue to project that inflation is
expected to decrease and expected to moderate over the course of this year,"
she added.

   Economists expect the month-on-month CPI for January will again show an
increase of 0.5 percent.

  For core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, they
anticipate a 0.5 percent rise, slightly less than in December.