Carney: Welcome to Biden’s America, Where the Poor Pay MoreJohn Carney 9 Apr 2021
The first two months of the presidency of Joe Biden have not been a particularly auspicious period in which to be black, poor, or working class in America.
The unemployment rate for black Americans fell for eight consecutive months as Donald Trump’s tenure in the White House marched toward its end, falling from 16.7 percent to 9.2 percent in January, one of the swiftest decline in unemployment in recorded economic history. It jumped back up to 9.9 percent in February and only slightly recovered to 9.6 percent in March.
It isn’t just black Americans that are suffering. Lower-income Americans of all races have also seen setbacks in the early months of the Biden administration.
The latest data on prices from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that prices jumped much higher than expected in March. The annual gain of 4.2 percent is the highest since 2011, although this is somewhat of a statistical illusion created by the depression in demand for goods and services after our political leaders ordered everyone to shelter at home to protect themselves from Covid-19. But even the monthly gains exceeded expectations, rising 1 percent compared with a forecast of half that.
Inflation weighs particularly hard on those at the lower end of the income scale. A much larger share of income goes into current consumption, so higher prices squeeze budgets more. Meager savings are much more likely to be in low-interest paying bank accounts than in equities or inflation hedged investments, so they are vulnerable to to the deterioration of the buying power of the U.S. dollar.
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https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2021/04/09/carney-welcome-to-bidens-america-where-the-poor-pay-more/
