“At the same time, this report underscores that we still have more work to do, with price increases still too high and squeezing family budgets,” Biden said.

Biden’s top economic adviser on Wednesday noted the Fed’s role in combating price increases. Speaking in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power With David Westin,” White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese underscored Biden’s support for Fed independence and its efforts to make sure “these price increases don’t become entrenched.”

Powell Assures Americans That Fed Will Tackle High Inflation (3)

The consumer price index climbed 7% in 2021, the largest 12-month gain since June 1982, according to Labor Department data released Wednesday. The widely followed inflation gauge rose 0.5% from November, exceeding forecasts.

Excluding the volatile food and energy components, so-called core prices accelerated from a month earlier, rising by a larger-than-forecast 0.6%. The measure jumped 5.5% from a year earlier, the biggest advance since 1991.

The energy index declined 0.4% from November, the first monthly decline since April as gasoline prices slid. Food inflation climbed 0.5%, a slight deceleration from the previous month due to falling costs for meats.