U.S. Chamber Urges Focus on Energy, Food, and Housing to Combat Historic Inflation

Washington D.C. – Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the change over time in the price of consumer goods. The new numbers for February 2022 show a 0.8% rise in the cost of goods and services from January, up 7.9% in the last year, with energy, housing, and food seeing the largest increases last month.

Following the release of February’s CPI data, Neil Bradley, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, released the below statement:

“Yet another report of historic inflation is a stark reminder that this is one of the most pressing economic challenges we face today and for the foreseeable future. With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine adding to the inflationary pressures, it is time for policymakers to focus on what they can do to reduce rising prices. But first, the administration must stop blaming business for rising prices. The data is clear, prices are rising for all types of goods and services, driven by constrained supply and increased demand.

“We urge policymakers to focus on three key areas that have a large impact on family budgets and the overall economy: energy, food, and housing. It’s time now for the administration to partner with domestic energy producers to remove regulatory red tape and make it easier to produce more oil and gas here in America. Congress and the administration should act now to support American farmers in increasing production, to help offset what will be lost in Ukraine and Russia, including by dealing with rising energy costs and potential fertilizer shortages. Finally, over many years housing construction has not kept up with demand. Policymakers need to reduce costs on housing inputs by reducing tariffs and reforming our zoning and permitting laws to make it easier to build new housing where it is needed.”

New findings from MetLife and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index shows soaring concern for inflation from small business owners. This quarter, 85% of small business owners say they are concerned about the impact of inflation on their business, up from 74% last quarter. Two-thirds (67%) have raised prices to cope with inflation pressures. Read the full report.

Last week, Martin Durbin, President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute, published this article outlining smart policy changes that would increase domestic energy production.

Additionally, the Chamber released a study yesterday conducted by NERA Economic Consulting showing industrial concentration has been declining, rather than increasing, since 2007. Read more and see the full report.