https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/trump-inflation-treasury-tariffs-rcna241696The Treasury Department said Monday that inflation "remained above the target of 2 percent in the third quarter," even as President Donald Trump and administration officials continue to assert that there is "no inflation."
Speaking on CBS News "60 Minutes" on Sunday, Trump said, "We have no inflation, we have no inflation."
Trump claimed that he had "already taken care of" inflation, calling 2% "the perfect inflation."
But inflation came in at 3% on an annual basis in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"Food prices for both groceries (food at home) and food services (food away from home) increased moderately in the third quarter," Treasury said in a new "Economy Statement."
The statement released Monday is a regular economic update prepared for the Treasury’s Borrowing Advisory Committee.
The committee consists of nonpartisan bond market executives from firms such as Citigroup, Pimco, JPMorgan and BlackRock, and provides input to the Treasury on government debt and financing issues.
A White House spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the Treasury statement.
One of the major drivers of food inflation was record beef prices, due in part to lower herd counts.
"We're gonna get the beef price down very quickly. It'll be very nice, just like eggs," Trump said Sunday on CBS.
Overall, the Treasury Department said that "economic growth solidified in the third quarter with steady business investment and consumer demand."
The third quarter is considered the three-month period from July 1 to Sept. 30.
CEOs of retail and food companies have noted that while consumer spending overall continues at a decent pace, lower-income consumers are faring much worse than middle and upper income Americans.
“Traffic for lower-income consumers is down double digits,” McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski told CNBC in September. “We needed to step in.”
