WASHINGTON, March 10 (KUNA) -- US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that a large contributor to inflation this month was the increasing energy prices as markets reacted to "Putin's aggressive actions".
At the same time, today's inflation report is a reminder that Americans' budgets are being stretched by price increases and families are starting to feel the impacts of Putin's price hike, Biden said following a report by the US Labor Department.
"As I have said from the start, there will be costs at home as we impose crippling sanctions in response to Putin's unprovoked war, but Americans can know this: the costs we are imposing on Putin and his cronies are far more devastating than the costs we are facing," he said.
He said that jobs recovery remains strong and new unemployment claims remain low, indicating that jobs are created at a record level.
The rate of people on unemployment insurance is the lowest since 1970 - more than 50 years and, private sector job growth is strong, boosted by the steps "we took in the American Rescue Plan a year ago this week", he pointed out.
"I know that higher prices impact a family's budget, which is why I am fighting to bring down the everyday prices that are squeezing Americans. Last week, in coordination with our allies, the US secured a release of 60 million barrels of oil from our strategic reserves," he stated.
He noted that his administration is pushing for investments so they can manufacture more in America, strengthen their supply chains, and move goods to market at lower cost.
He said that he's promoting competition to make sure big corporations are offering consumers fair prices, and he's pressing Congress to pass his plan to lower the cost of essentials like prescription drugs and energy.
He stressed that they can do all this, and reduce the huge federal budget deficit that he inherited from his predecessor.
"Earlier this week, we learned that after reducing the deficit last year -- for the first time since 2015 - CBO reported that we are on track to cut the deficit this year by over USD1 trillion - the largest one year reduction in the deficit in US history," he concluded. (end) asj.hm