US President George W. Bush trusts the US Federal Reserve to handle any inflation worries, his spokesman said Friday after US consumer inflation rose in September at their fastest clip in 25 years.
"The president has confidence in the Federal Reserve when it comes to monetary policy and their ability to address any inflation concerns," White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters.
US consumer inflation surged at the fastest pace in more than 25 years in September, rising a steeper-than-expected 1.2 percent, the Labour Department said Friday.
A record 12 percent rise in energy prices fuelled the historic jump in the consumer price index, but core inflation increased just 0.1 percent.
Consumer inflation has now risen 4.7 percent in the past 12 months, the highest since 1991. Core inflation is up 2.0 percent in the past year, down from the 2.1 percent pace seen in August.
McClellan noted that the sharp rise was fueled by soaring energy prices, and pointed to the modest rise in so-called core inflation - which excludes food and energy - to downplay the increase.
"Over the course of the last year, I think that it's gone up - the overall core inflation rate - has gone up just two percent. If you look at that, compare that over where it was four years ago, I mean, that's lower," he said.
The contrasting figures sparked debate among experts on whether inflation was on the rise as a result of the spike in energy costs or if the data simply reflected a temporary spike in energy costs due to Hurricane Katrina.