Boyle Statement on July PCE Inflation Data

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Pennsylvania Congressman Brendan F. Boyle, Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, released the following statement after the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported an annual personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index of 2.5% for July:

“When I called on Chairman Powell to begin cutting rates several months ago, I argued that the data clearly supported ending the Fed’s excessively high interest rates,” said Ranking Member Boyle. “Today’s PCE data continues to show that we have made significant progress on inflation — and that the Fed’s apparent move to cut rates at their September FOMC meeting is the right one.”

“Middle-class families still need more breathing room, which is why the Biden-Harris administration is cracking down on corporate price-gouging, like the major rental price-fixing scheme recently exposed by the DOJ. While Democrats continue working to get relief for American families, Trump’s Project 2025 agenda would take us backward and saddle working families with higher costs and higher taxes. I will continue doing everything in my power to fight back against this extreme Republican agenda that sells out the middle class while cutting taxes for far-right donors and billion-dollar corporations.”

Ranking Member Boyle has consistently warned of the risk that the Fed’s historically high interest rates pose to our economy. In June, he sent a letter with Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell calling on the Fed to begin lowering rates. This January, he firmly called for the Fed to respect its dual mandate and begin cutting rates in 2024.

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