Biden’s trade chiefs are “sure” inflation will be short Coronavirus pandemic News

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said inflation will disappear when supply chain and labor market disruptions are eased.

President Joe Biden’s administration remains “fairly confident” that the fastest inflation in decades will last and decrease as the pandemic-fueled supply chain and labor market disruptions are eased, according to one of its top economic leaders.

The rising cost of living is a problem that affects Americans in their daily lives, especially on holidays, as they pay higher prices for turkey and Christmas trees, and Biden understands the impact, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in an interview Thursday.

The Biden administration also has solutions, he said. These include expanding the labor market through job training; Incorporate more people against Covid-19 so they can return to work; increasing women’s employment through the Build Back Better Act through childcare and the expansion of early childhood education; and investing in American semiconductor manufacturing and ports to address the shortage of goods.

His optimism comes amid data from recent months that has shocked Americans and politicians alike. The U.S. consumer price index rose in October at its fastest pace since 1990. November’s release is expected to accelerate to 6.8% in November, the highest since Ronald Reagan became president in the early 1980s.

“We still feel pretty confident that this is a short-term issue, not a long-term one,” Raimondo told Bloomberg News New York editorial staff and journalists. “Covid’s supply chain and labor market disruptions are still affecting us. That’s why we believe that support is on the way, that things will get better.”

One of the most important efforts of the Raimondo Biden administration is leading to the smoothing of bottlenecks in supply chains, a challenge that has exacerbated holiday demand. Labor shortages, outdated infrastructure, shipping in the wrong places, and free-spending U.S. buyers have led to a surge in imports that have disrupted the flow of world trade.

Wages and salaries in the U.S. are also rising, and employment costs rose at the fastest pace in the third quarter as companies in various sectors saw their wages rise. Raimondo described these increases as positive for American workers. At the same time, they have failed to keep up with rising consumer prices.