“The major stock market indexes tumbled on Tuesday, notching the worst one-day performance for stocks since June 2020, after a key measure of inflation came in worse than expected” reports National Review.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,276 points, or a 3.94 percent decline. The S&P 500 fell 4.32 percent, and Nasdaq experienced a 5.15 percent drop. The new figures raise concern among investors that the Federal Reserve will take an aggressive approach to combatting inflation that could send the U.S. economy into a recession.

Inflation for overall cost of food increased by 11.4%, the highest increase since May of 1979. The “food-at-home category, groceries” was up 13.5% year-over-year, the largest increase since March of 1979, according to Steve Reed, an economist at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 8.3 percent in August compared to the same time last year and increased 0.1 percent from the previous month.

“The rise was worse than the 8.1 percent increase that economists had expected, according to Dow Jones estimates” adds National Review.

“The month-to-month figure also came in worse than expected, with economists having predicted a -0.1 percent change to the CPI but instead the measure increased 0.1 percent.”

President Biden responded to the report on Tuesday saying the data “show more progress in bringing global inflation down in the US economy.”

“Overall, prices have been essentially flat in our country these last two months: that is welcome news for American families, with more work still to do,” he said, adding that gas prices have fallen, some grocery store price increases have slowed down and real wages are up.

He continued: “It will take more time and resolve to bring inflation down, which is why we passed the Inflation Reduction Act to lower the cost of healthcare, prescription drugs and energy. And my economic plan is showing that, as we bring prices down, we are creating good paying jobs and bringing manufacturing back to America.”

Despite its name, the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School found that the “Inflation Reduction Act” is “expected to be statistically indistinguishable from zero.”