AFP

The torrid pace of US inflation may have eased slightly in May, but prices have remained high to the detriment of Americans’ wallets, sending President Joe Biden and the Federal Reserve racing to help.

Consumer prices in the world’s largest economy have soared by the fastest pace in more than four decades, with gas prices at the pump hitting new records daily amid the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as well as ongoing supply chain challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Biden, whose popularity has taken a hit as prices surge, has made fighting inflation his top domestic priority, but is finding he has few tools to directly impact prices.

“Inflation is the bane of our existence,” Biden acknowledged in an interview Wednesday with late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel.

The Labor Department is set to release the May consumer price index (CPI) data on Friday, which analysts expect will show a slightly higher monthly increase than in the prior month, but potentially saw a modest slowdown in the torrid annual pace.

US consumer prices jumped 8.3 percent in the 12 months ending in April, and though economists say the rate probably peaked in March at 8.5 percent, it is likely to remain high for months to come, something the White House has acknowledged.

“We estimate the 12-month change in overall CPI eased only slightly” to 8.2 percent, said Rubeela Farooqi of High Frequency Economics.

Sam Stovall of CFRA expects the rate slow to 8.1 percent but warned further declines are likely to be “glacial.”

However, a consensus forecast sees the rate holding steady at the 8.3 percent the pace seen April.

Biden has tried to hammer home his optimistic message about the economic progress in the wake of the pandemic, including rapid GDP growth and record job creation, while pressing Congress to take action to lower costs on specific products, and go after firms such as shipping companies that are taking advantage of limited competition to impose steep price hikes.

“We have the fastest-growing economy in the world,” he said. “That’s allowed us at least to stay on top of and a little bit ahead of what’s happening around the world.”

– Inflation remains ‘elevated’ –

The United States has come roaring back from the economic damage inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic, helped by bargain borrowing costs and massive government stimulus measures.

But with the pandemic still gripping other parts of the world, global supply chain snarls have caused demand to far outstrip resources. Meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine has sent global oil prices above $100 a barrel.

The Federal Reserve has begun raising interest rates aggressively, with another big hike expected next week, as policymakers attempt to combat inflationary pressures without triggering a recession.

The White House acknowledged inflation is likely to remain “elevated” in May, though Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday the administration continues “to believe the economy can transition from what has been a historic recovery… to stable steady growth.”

In a video posted on Twitter on Thursday, Biden urged Congress to pass a bill aimed at easing the cost of shipping containers to US ports, which in turn would bring down prices.

The bill passed the Senate in March, and the House of Representatives is set to vote on the legislation next week.

Another step Washington could take is to lift some of the punitive tariffs Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump imposed on China, which supporters argue would help ease price pressures by making imports cheaper.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told lawmakers Wednesday that such a move was under “active consideration” and the administration would provide more information in “in coming weeks.”

Texas authorities on Thursday announced they had located an American woman whose parents were found dead in 1981 when she was a baby, and have appealed to the public for help in solving the mystery around their murder.

“Baby Holly has been located alive and well and is now 42 years of age,” the office of the southwestern state’s attorney general Ken Paxton said in a statement.

“We rejoice today that Holly has been found,” first assistant attorney general Brent Webster told reporters, but added: “We still are looking for suspects in this case.”

The family of Tina and Harold Clouse, and the baby known as Holly, say they last heard from the couple in 1980. 

In 1981, the bodies of the Florida couple were found in a wooded area in Houston, but they were not positively identified as the Clouses until last year, through the use of genetic genealogy techniques.

Holly “has been notified of the identities of her biological parents and got to meet her extended biological family for the first time this Tuesday,” Webster said, explaining it was a virtual meeting. 

“They hope to meet her in person soon.”

The prosecutor told reporters that Holly had been left at a church in Arizona, and was raised in a family whose members are not suspected of foul play.

Police are looking for two women who “identified themselves as members of a nomadic religious group” who brought Holly to the church, he said.

“They were wearing white robes and they were barefoot,” Webster said.

“They indicated the beliefs of their religion included the separation of male and female members, practicing vegetarian habits and not using or wearing leather goods.”

In late 1980 or early 1981, the relatives of the Clouses received a telephone call from a woman who called herself “Sister Susan,” he said. 

The caller said the Clouses had joined her group and wanted to cut ties with their family and give up their possessions. The woman offered to return the couple’s car to Florida in exchange for money.

Family members contacted police. When two or three robed women arrived with the car, they were arrested, but never charged, Webster said, urging the public to report any information related to the case.

“It is such a blessing to be reassured that she is alright and has had a good life,” Cheryl Clouse, Holly’s aunt, was quoted in the statement from the Texas attorney general’s office as saying.

A large swathe of the southwestern United States was on alert Thursday for a potentially deadly heatwave that could push temperatures as high as 47 degrees celsius (117 Fahrenheit) over the coming days.

Millions of people in California, Nevada and Arizona were warned to expect dangerous conditions for at least some of the weekend, with the National Weather Service advising residents to stay out of the sun.

While the region usually heats up at this time of year, forecasters warned it would be considerably hotter than average.

Inland and desert areas of California will be particularly hot on Friday and Saturday, with the tourist city of Palm Springs expected to hit 45 degrees, while nearby Ocotillo Wells could reach 47 degrees.

“We’ve had some prior heat waves this year, but not as intense as this one or as long duration,” San Diego weather service meteorologist Alex Tardy said.

Prolonged exposure to high temperatures can be exceedingly dangerous for humans.

The World Health Organization says excessive heat stresses the body, and increases the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular disease.

“Heatwaves can acutely impact large populations for short periods of time, often trigger public health emergencies, and result in excess mortality, and cascading socioeconomic impacts,” the WHO says on its website.

Heatwaves and temperature variations are a natural part of the climate, but scientists say human-caused global warming is creating a greater number of extreme events, sometimes with devastating consequences.

In June last year a “heat dome” sat over the western United States and Canada.

The intense temperatures and worst-in-a-millennium drought gripping the region led to numerous fires.

In the village of Lytton, northeast of Vancouver, temperatures reached 49.6 degrees in the days before a destructive fire swept through.

California, along with much of the American West, is on high alert for wildfires.

Years of below-average rainfall has left huge tracts of countryside tinder-dry, and almost the entire state is classed as suffering from severe drought or worse.

In 2020 and 2021, a total of almost seven million acres (2.8 million hectares) were burned in California alone, and forecasters are warning there could be another grim year ahead.