A new analysis from Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee finds that the average United States family is spending about seven hundred dollars more each month under President Donald Trump, despite the president’s repeated claims that prices are falling. The report was released on Thursday and measures cost increases using the same methodology Republicans relied on when they published state level estimates of rising living expenses during the Biden administration.
The timing of the report was notable. It arrived the same day the Trump administration was supposed to release the October Consumer Price Index. Instead, the data did not appear due to the federal government shutdown. The Trump White House said the day prior that it is “likely” the October numbers will never be released. Without that update, the Joint Economic Committee’s findings offer one of the few available assessments of how much more families are paying for food, rent, energy, and other basic necessities.
The committee concluded that “the average U.S. household has already spent $700 more in the first eight months under President Trump.” The findings also show significant regional variation. In Alaska, California, and Colorado, families are spending more than one thousand dollars extra per month to maintain their standard of living. The report shows that price increases span categories such as groceries, shelter, utilities, and transportation.
Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, the ranking member of the Joint Economic Committee, contrasted those figures with Trump’s public statements. Hassan said, “While President Trump claimed that he would bring down prices, the reality is that Americans have seen their costs soar even higher since he took office.” She added, “As families across the country spend more to pay their bills and put food on the table, Democrats and Republicans should be working together to lower costs. Instead, President Trump is pushing ahead with reckless tariffs that continue to fuel inflation and drive prices up even higher.”
The committee used the same calculation method Republicans had previously promoted to quantify cost increases under former President Joe Biden. By adopting identical techniques, the report allows direct comparisons with the numbers Republicans circulated during Biden’s term. The data shows that inflation has persisted and climbed since January, despite Trump’s continued insistence that household expenses are moving in the opposite direction.
Trump’s public statements conflict sharply with the available figures. During his campaign, he said he would “bring the cost of everything way down” and predicted that “inflation will be in full retreat” by August 2025. He recently stated that “costs are way down” and claimed that “every price is down.” CNN journalist Daniel Dale reviewed those assertions and described them as part of what he called a “lying spree about inflation.” Dale noted that Trump had said “every price is down” and that “everybody knows that it’s far less expensive under Trump than it was under Sleepy Joe Biden.”
Dale added clear findings based on federal CPI data. He wrote, “None of that is true.” He also reported that “average prices were 1.7% higher in September than they were in January” and “3% higher than they were in September 2024.” According to Dale, “There has been inflation every month of the term, and far more products have gotten costlier than cheaper.” He further stated that “inflation not only very much continues to exist but has been accelerating since the spring” and that “as of September, the year-over-year inflation rate had increased for five consecutive months.”
The new committee report echoes earlier JEC analyses showing families paying more for electricity, cookout essentials, and baby products since Trump took office. The latest findings extend those increases across a larger portion of the typical household budget. The steady rise in essential goods means families cannot easily reduce spending without cutting into basic needs.
The report also points to presidential policies as contributors to current price pressures. Hassan’s statement referenced Trump’s tariffs, which she described as “reckless.” The committee’s findings align with long standing economic concerns that tariffs raise prices for consumers by increasing costs for imported goods and materials. States with significant import dependencies or long transportation routes, such as Alaska, show some of the most pronounced increases.
The delayed CPI release has raised questions about transparency during a period of notable cost increases. The Consumer Price Index is the federal government’s primary measure of inflation and is used to adjust wages, benefits, and financial planning across the economy. The White House comment that it is “likely” the October data will never be published removes a key source of public information. Without updated CPI numbers, it becomes more difficult to verify or dispute the administration’s claims about the direction of prices.
Families facing higher bills have little room to absorb rising costs. An increase of seven hundred dollars per month equals more than eight thousand dollars a year, a major strain for households with tight budgets. In states where the average increase surpasses one thousand dollars a month, families face even sharper pressure. Economists frequently point out that inflation acts like a regressive tax, burdening lower and middle income families most because they spend a larger share of their income on essentials.
The Joint Economic Committee report identifies a consistent pattern. Prices are rising, inflation is accelerating, and families are paying significantly more each month than they were at the beginning of the Trump presidency. With the official CPI release halted and the White House refusing to commit to publishing the October numbers, the committee’s findings may be one of the few available indications of how household budgets are being affected nationwide.
“While President Trump claimed that he would bring down prices, the reality is that Americans have seen their costs soar even higher since he took office,” Hassan said, summarizing the core contrast the data reveals.
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