Trump says inflation is 'killing our country' under Biden

In response to Trump's attacks on his record, Biden said Trump had "absolutely decimated" the US economy when he was president. [Andrew Caballero, AFP]

Donald Trump accused Joe Biden on Thursday of doing a "poor job" on the US economy and of presiding over a disastrous rise in inflation -- reflecting how rising prices and the cost of living have become key issues ahead of November's presidential election.

"He has not done a good job. He's done a poor job," Trump said during CNN's head-to-head debate with Biden in Atlanta, Georgia. "And inflation is killing our country. It is absolutely killing us.

"I gave him a country with essentially no inflation. It was perfect. It was so good, all he had to do is leave it alone." he added. "He destroyed it"

In response to Trump's attacks on his record, Biden said Trump had "absolutely decimated" the US economy when he was president.

"There was no inflation when I became president. You know why? The economy was flat on its back," he said, adding that his administration had helped create "millions" of new jobs, including in minority communities.

Americans have named inflation or the cost of living as "the most important financial problem facing their family," in each of the last three years, according to a recent poll from the Washington-based firm Gallup.

Perhaps more worryingly for Biden, 46 percent of adults in the United States said they have "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of confidence in Trump to do or recommend the right thing for the economy, while just 38 percent said the same thing about the current president, according to another Gallup poll.

Surge in inflation

While it is true that US consumer inflation jumped sharply after Biden took office, hitting a multi-decade high in 2022, the rise was largely fueled by a post-pandemic supply crunch and by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In response, the US Federal Reserve hiked its key lending rate from almost zero to a two-decade high of between 5.25 and 5.50 percent -- where it has remained for the past year.

Higher interest rates cool down the economy by raising borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, indirectly impacting everything from mortgage rates to auto loans.

Inflation has eased sharply since the Fed started hiking rates, but remains stuck stubbornly above its long-term target of two percent -- keeping the US central bank on pause as it waits for more positive data.

Because inflation has remained high for a number of years, consumer prices have now risen by around 20 percent since January 2021, when Biden took office, according to the Labor Department's consumer price index (CPI) inflation calculator.