WASHINGTON—New data released Thursday showed that the annual inflation rate hit another 40-year high of 7.5% in January. Wage growth was almost completely canceled by inflation as the cost of living under the Biden administration continues to eclipse real wages.

Joel Griffith, research fellow with Heritage’s Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, released the following statement Thursday:   

“Americans continue to suffer from the Biden administration’s activist-driven inflationary policies. We’ve known for a while that these dramatic price hikes in housing, rent, vehicles, gasoline and food staples are dragging down our economy and hurting working Americans. Government mandates, regulations, and irresponsible federal spending and borrowing are largely to blame for these painful increases.

“Given these skyrocketing rates in conjunction with abysmal labor participation, policymakers must change course. That means ending COVID-19 mandates that have predictably failed, making it easier for working parents to find childcare and education options for their children, incorporating work requirements in welfare programs, and stopping stimulus checks and other government benefits that discourage work. Those are just some of the basic first steps to fixing this mess the left has created.”

For more on how we can fight inflation, read Inflation: Policymakers Should Stop Driving It and Start Fighting It.