The US president incorrectly said that prices of petrol and eggs had dropped while home sales were good.
US President Donald Trump said that housing, petrol, and grocery prices are declining. However, current data do not fully support any of these claims.
In the Oval Office on Thursday, the president, when asked about home sales and if it was an economic indicator that concerns him, said there were very good numbers on housing.
However, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which the reporter who asked the question was alluding to, sales of existing homes are moving at their slowest pace since 2009, and were down 5.9 percent in March from a month earlier.
“Residential housing mobility, currently at historical lows, signals the troublesome possibility of less economic mobility for society,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a public statement.
Trump mentioned that energy prices have dropped to $1.98 in some states. While he did not specify the type of energy, his comments closely mirrored remarks he made last week. At that time, he cited petrol prices specifically.
According to AAA, which monitors national petrol prices, the lowest recorded average was $2.70 per gallon ($0.71 per litre) last week in Mississippi. This week, Mississippi reported the lowest average petrol price again, but this time at $2.68 ($0.70 per litre). Data from GasBuddy, which tracks prices at individual petrol stations, found the lowest individual station prices to be $2.33 per gallon (0.62 per litre) — still above the figure mentioned by the president.
The national average petrol price currently stands at $3.17 per gallon ($0.84 per litre). While that reflects a five-cent increase from last month, it is a decrease from $3.60 ($0.95 per litre) at this time last year. The president correctly noted that petrol prices are trending downward, though not to the extent he suggested.
According to the latest report from the Department of Labor, overall energy prices declined by 2.4 percent over the past month, largely due to falling petrol prices. This decline helped offset increases in natural gas and electricity costs. Oil prices have also generally declined since Trump took office, predominantly on the back of economic uncertainties caused by Trump’s tariff threats.
In his comments, Trump also stated that grocery prices are decreasing. Recent data does not support this claim. According to the Department of Labor, food prices rose 0.4 percent from last month and are up 2.4 percent compared with a year ago. Price increases were observed in four out of six major grocery categories.
Eggs, which the president said had dropped in price, actually saw a 5.9 percent increase last month. Year-over-year, egg prices are up more than 60 percent. The beef index rose by 1.2 percent, and dairy prices increased by 4 percent. However, prices for fruits and vegetables did decline slightly, dropping by 0.5 percent.
