White House’s Deese will not predict whether price rises will last through next year

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – White House economic adviser Brian Deese on Thursday declined to predict whether price increases would continue through 2022, but said most independent forecasters continued to see inflation “moderating meaningfully” over the course of next year.

Deese said prices for gasoline, natural gas and used cars were falling, but those drops might not be reflected in consumer price index (CPI) data for November that economists expect to have risen 6.8% compared with the same month last year.

“I’m not going to get into the prediction business other than to say … that most independent forecasts continue to see price increases moderating and moderating meaningfully over the course of next year,” he told reporters at the White House.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose, writing by Andrea Shalal, editing by Chris Reese)