Thanks to Trump’s Reckless Trade Policies, Inflation is Up and Consumer Sentiment is Down Arrow

New economic data shows that consumer sentiment worsened this month, particularly with lower- and middle-income consumers. This comes on the heels of inflation accelerating last month to its highest rate since January, with prices rising on everything from groceries to gas to clothing to airline fares. Americans are worried about rising inflation and the cold job market, and tariffs are top of mind for most.

In response, DNC Rapid Response Director Kendall Witmer released the following statement:

"Wasn't it just last week that Donald Trump said he had 'already solved inflation,' and that 'costs are down?' To no one's surprise, that's not the case - and Americans know it. Trump's reckless economic agenda has jacked up prices and cost tens of thousands of jobs - leaving working families to worry about how they're going to make ends meet. Let's not forget: This is a mess of Trump's own making, and instead of focusing on combating inflation and bringing down prices, he's sticking by his failed economic policies."

Last week's economic data brought bad news all around. The reports showed that the US economy may be in a state of early-onset stagflation, meaning that the economy is slowing down, but prices are going up. On top of that, data on wages was disastrous: Real hourly wages decreased again in August - including for manufacturing workers - and wages for blue-collar workers stagnated.

It's no wonder working families are worried about their pocketbooks. Trump's unhinged tariffs have jacked up prices and made it impossible to find a job - with the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits near the highest level in the past four years. Farmers are struggling, businesses say their costs have risen and that Trump's policies are to blame, and the manufacturing sector is shrinking, with 33,000 manufacturing jobs lost since Trump entered office.

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