Fact-checking Trump\u2019s speech on inflation, wages and a military dividend<\/a><\/p>\nMany economists don\u2019t expect to get a reliable read on inflation until next month when the Labor Department releases CPI numbers for December.<\/p>\n
Energy prices, driven up by sharply higher fuel oil prices, rose 4.2% in November. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation rose 2.6%, compared with a 3% year-over-year gain in September and the lowest since March 2021.<\/p>\n
U.S. inflation remains stubbornly high, partly because of President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to impose double-digit taxes on imports from almost every country on earth along with targeted tariffs on specific products like steel, aluminum and autos.<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s tariffs have so far proved less inflationary than economists feared. But they do put upward pressure on prices and complicate matters at the Fed, which is trying to decide whether to keep cutting its benchmark interest rate to support a sputtering job market or whether to hold off until inflationary pressures ease. The central bank last week decided to reduce the rate for the third time this year, but Fed officials signaled that they expect just one cut in 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Fed will instead focus on the December CPI released in mid-January, just two weeks before its next meeting, as a more accurate bellwether for inflation,\u201d said Haigh at Goldman Sachs.<\/p>\n
Trump delivered a politically charged speech Wednesday that aired live during prime time on network television, seeking to pin the blame for economic challenges on Democrats.<\/p>\n
The speech was a rehash of his recent messaging that has so far been unable to calm public anxiety about the rising cost of groceries, housing, utilities and other basic goods.<\/p>\n
As the holiday season approaches, Americans are dipping into savings, scouring for bargains and feeling like the overall economy is sputtering, a new AP-NORC poll finds.<\/p>\n
The vast majority of U.S. adults say they\u2019ve noticed higher than usual prices for groceries, electricity and holiday gifts in recent months, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.<\/p>\n
Roughly half of Americans say it\u2019s harder than usual to afford the things they want to give as holiday gifts, and similar numbers are delaying big purchases or cutting back on nonessential purchases more than they would normally.<\/p>\n
Trump has promised an economic boom, yet inflation has stayed elevated and the job market has weakened in the wake of his import taxes.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s tariffs are taking a toll on companies like Wolverine Worldwide, which makes footwear brands like Merrell and Saucony. Facing extra tariff costs of $10 million this year and $55 million in 2026, the Rockford, Michigan, company had to increase prices between 5% and 8% on some products in June, and will have to raise prices again next year. It\u2019s put a freeze on hiring and capital investments.<\/p>\n
The company is getting squeezed even as it diversifies its sourcing network away from China, which now makes less than 10% of its products. During Trump\u2019s first term, Wolverine shifted production to Vietnam. Now it\u2019s moving to Bangladesh, Cambodia and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The problem isn\u2019t just the cost of the tariffs. It\u2019s the uncertainty caused by the unpredictable way that Trump rolls them out. \u201cFrom a business leader\u2019s perspective, it\u2019s one thing if there\u2019s bad news,\u201d said Wolverine CEO Christopher Hufnagel. \u201cJust tell me what the bad news is, and I\u2019ll go work to try to solve for it. It\u2019s the uncertainty of how it actually plays out that causes so much trouble because then we\u2019re modeling all these different scenarios and it seems like things can change in the middle of the night.\u201d<\/p>\n
D\u2019Innocenzio contributed to this story from New York.<\/p>\n
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