WASHINGTON: Consumer inflation in the United States rose more than anticipated in December, government data showed Thursday, with President Joe Biden conceding he must do more to tackle high prices.

The Department of Labor’s consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, rose 3.4 percent from a year ago, up from November.

This underscores the bumpy road to lowering price increases as the presidential election looms in November.

Underlying pressures appear to be ebbing, as a “core” metric that strips out volatile food and energy prices cooled to 3.9 percent in the last month of 2023 — the lowest since May 2021.

But a rising inflation figure complicates the picture for Biden, who heads into his reelection campaign facing persistent negative perceptions about the economy.

“The economy has created more than 14 million jobs since I took office, and wealth, wages, and employment are higher now than under my predecessor,” said Biden in a statement Thursday.