What were the monthly US inflation rates during the Biden presidency by year?

1. What the month‑by‑month record shows: a dramatic spike, then retreat

From the month Joe Biden took office (January 2021, CPI year‑over‑year 1.4%) inflation accelerated almost every month into 2022, reaching the four‑decade high of about 9.0–9.1% in June 2022, before trending downward through 2023 and into 2024 ^{[1] [2] [7]}. Analysts and summaries (CEPR, St. Louis Fed) emphasize the June 2022 peak as the episode’s high‑water mark and document a steady retreat thereafter, with headline CPI falling to the low‑to‑mid single digits by late 2023 and around 3% by mid‑2024 ^{[2] [6]}.

2. Why you won’t find a single month list in these clips — and where the original data live

The search results compiled here are reporting and analysis pieces that quote specific months and pivots (e.g., January 2021 = 1.4%, June 2022 ≈ 9.1%, January 2025 ≈ 3.0%) rather than providing a full month‑by‑month table inside each article ^{[1] [7] [3]}. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the month‑by‑month CPI series itself; several secondary sources cite or chart that BLS series (Statista, MultPL, FRED/St. Louis Fed) and would be the direct place to extract every monthly figure ^{[4] [8] [9] [10]}.

3. Competing explanations for the rise and fall

Economists and journalists attribute the initial spike to post‑pandemic demand re‑opening, supply bottlenecks, energy shocks after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and large fiscal stimulus; conservative and Republican congressional sources emphasize administration fiscal choices as an exacerbating factor ^{[2] [5] [11] [12]}. Independent analyses (CEPR, St. Louis Fed) model the episode as a mix of headline shocks (energy, autos), tight labor markets, and inflation expectations — factors that helped push the 12‑month CPI to its mid‑2022 peak and then unwind as shocks faded and policy tightened ^{[2] [6]}.

4. How totals and averages have been portrayed politically

Political actors and committees have presented cumulative or average figures in different ways: some Republican congressional analyses cite a cumulative price rise since January 2021 (figures like ~17–19% or per‑year averages near 5%) to make a political point ^{[12] [13]}. Fact‑checking and neutral outlets note those cumulative totals but stress that annualized and month‑by‑month readings tell the timing story — a spike through mid‑2022 followed by disinflation — and that averaging can obscure that trajectory ^{[14] [1] [15]}.

5. What the data imply for voters and policy

The sharp early rise in inflation materially reduced purchasing power and shaped voter perceptions, even as jobs and growth improved; scholars and reporters note that disinflation after mid‑2022 improved headline numbers but that the political damage from the earlier spike lingered ^{[16] [17]}. Monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve is consistently cited across sources as the key policy response that helped bring year‑over‑year inflation back toward the 2–3% neighborhood after the 2022 peak ^{[2] [6]}.

6. If you want the monthly table: go to the primary source

For an exact month‑by‑month list of CPI year‑over‑year rates during the Biden presidency, consult the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI releases or BLS time series (the BLS CPI page and downloadable tables are cited across reporting and are the authoritative source) ^{[4] [10]}. The secondary sources here correctly summarize the major monthly milestones (Jan 2021 = 1.4%; peak ≈ 9.0–9.1% in mid‑2022; fall to ~3% by mid‑2024 and Jan 2025 ≈ 3.0%) but do not embed a complete month‑by‑month table in these excerpts ^{[1] [7] [3]}.

Limitations: this packet of search results is heavy on summaries, analysis and political statements and light on a pasted monthly table; available sources in this set do not include a single continuous month‑by‑month table embedded in a news article — the BLS raw series must be used for that exact listing ^{[4] [10]}.