Claim: President Joe Biden claimed on Wednesday that inflation was “skyrocketing” when he took office.
“Look we have dramatically reduced inflation from 9% down to close to 3% we’re in a situation where we’re better situated and we were we took office, where we inflation was skyrocketing,” Biden said Wednesday at a White House press conference.
The president was reacting to the latest report on the consumer price index, which showed inflation rose at an annualized rate of 4.6 percent in March, the fourth consecutive month in which inflation has exceeded expectations.
Verdict: False.
Inflation was not skyrocketing when Biden took office. When Biden took the oath of office in January of 2021, the consumer price index was up 1.4 percent from a year earlier. The following month it was up 1.7 percent.
The personal consumption expenditure price index, the measure used by the Federal Reserve as the basis for its two percent inflation target, was up 1.6 percent in January 2021 and 1.8 percent in February.