A hot inflation report put President Joe Biden in the hot seat on Wednesday afternoon as he defended his “Bidenomics” record.
Biden held a joint press conference with the prime minister of Japan and was asked by a reporter if he still predicted the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates despite inflation rising more than expected for three straight months.
“I do stand by my prediction that before the year is out, there will be a rate cut,” Biden said. “This may delay it a month or so. I’m not sure of that. We don’t know what the Fed is going to do for certain. But look, we have dramatically reduced inflation from 9% down to close to 3%.”
But inflation rose to 3.5% for the year ending in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday in an update to the consumer price index.
That complicates the situation for the Fed, which is looking to cut rates from a two-decade high of 5.25% to 5.5%. It also complicates things for Biden, who is pushing the Bideno …