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President Donald Trump claims that food and gas prices are falling, the claim he has made many times after taking office.
In a social media publication, Trump advertised price levels along with job growth and tax revenue in a list of profits provided by his tariff policy.
“We are only in the stage of transition, we just start !!!” Trump said.
However, the claim to reduce the prices of these basic goods is potentially misleading, economists told ABC News. Ever since Trump took office, an increase in food prices has accelerated and gas prices have been essentially equal, according to the federal government data.
To be sure, overall inflation is slightly relieved during Trump’s term. In January, inflation during the year was 3%; As of March, the latest month of the recording, this course is registered at 2.4%, government data show. This figure is well below the peak achieved in 2022.
Even the relatively low level of inflation shows an increase in price levels, as inflation measures the rate of price change, David Bieiri, an economist at the University of Virginia Tech.
“Prices are still increasing – they just don’t increase as fast,” Bieie told ABC News.
Grocery
On April 24, Trump told reporters in the oval office: “Grocery are down.” Trump repeated the claim on social media on Friday, saying, “Grocery (and eggs!) Down.”
Food prices, which make up a significant share of household budgets, are measured in government prices in the “Food at Home” category, which distinguishes such items from those purchased at restaurants or other places for dinner.
In January, food prices in the home increased by 1.9% compared to a year earlier. By March, the inflation rate during the year for such products was accelerated to 2.4%, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Bureau.
Asked Trump’s claim that food prices are falling, Tucker Balch, a professor of finance at Emori University, said: “I am not familiar with any data that supports this.”
Egg prices – another price, emphasized by Trump – rose in the first months of Trump’s term. In March, egg prices increased by 60% higher than a year before, BLS data show.
Bird Flu continues to reduce the delivery of eggs by raising prices, researchers at the University of Tennessee and the State University of Mississippi, discovered in February.
In contrast, the prices of wholesale eggs – the amount that groceries pay to suppliers – have dropped significantly since Trump took office, Food Economists told ABC News earlier. It remains unclear when and to what extent the decline in wholesale egg prices will become a relief for consumers, they said.
As food prices increase as a whole, costs for some foods are reduced. Skit like rice, pasta, potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes registered lower prices in March than a year ago, BLS data show.
“You can always find specific food prices that fall,” Professor Carola Binder told ABC News, Professor of Economics at the University of Texas in Austin, who studies inflation. “There are probably some people whose price basket is falling because of what they buy.”
Gas prices
Trump claims last month that gasoline prices have fallen to $ 1.98 in several states. On Friday, Trump expressed a similar statement on social media, saying, “Gasoline just interrupted $ 1.98 per gallon, the lowest in years.”
The average price of the national price per gallon of gasoline is $ 3.18, AAA data show. No country can boast an average price close to $ 1.98, data show.
In Mississippi, the state with the lowest average price, a gas gallon costs $ 2.66, says AAA.
Moreover, government data show that the average gas prices have been slightly changed as Trump took office.
During the week ending January 20, the average price of the Gas Gallon is $ 3.10, according to the US Energy Information Administration or EIA. By the week ending April 28, the most recorded, the average price landed at $ 3.13, says EIA.
“This puts gas prices exactly where they were when Trump took office,” Binder said.
In contrast, oil prices have fallen about 25%since Trump took office. In theory, the decline in the price of oil should ultimately reduce the price of gasoline, as oil makes a key contribution to the refined product, which ends up in vehicles, Binder said.
The decline in oil prices is not necessarily a positive indicator, they added. Falling oil prices often suggest expectations for economic slowdown, which would reduce energy demand.
Balch at Emori University said the decline in oil prices is the result of expectations for a delay in global trade after Trump’s rates.
“This is a measure of the expected use of energy in our economy,” Balch said. “This is because of Trump’s policies, but this is not the approval of his policies.”
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