The stunning small print in this week’s inflation report that proves Trump has lost the plot on the US economy

President Donald Trump says America is living through a new ‘Golden Age’ — and that he is bringing prices down ‘very fast’.

On the surface, the headline number in Thursday’s inflation report appeared to back him up. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said inflation rose 2.7 percent in November, less than expected and well below the 3.1 percent figure investors had feared. 

But buried deep in the small print is a very different story — one that explains why so many Americans still feel poorer, more anxious, and unconvinced by the White House’s economic victory lap.

From grocery staples to energy bills and car repairs, many of the items Americans actually spend money on are seeing double-digit price rises over the past year — often far faster than the headline figure suggests. 

Instant coffee prices are up a staggering 24.2 percent, and roasted coffee up 18.4 percent. Ground beef is up 14.9 percent, while beef roasts have jumped 21.2 percent. Utility gas bills have climbed 9.1 percent, and electricity costs are up 6.9 percent. 

These are not luxury purchases. They are everyday staples.

Overall beef and veal prices have risen nearly 16 percent year on year. Frozen fish and seafood is up 11.6 percent. Even bananas cost 6.7 percent more than a year ago, according to the government’s own data.   

The inflation pain doesn’t stop at the grocery store.

Utility gas service prices are up 9.1 percent, while electricity costs have risen 6.9 percent. 

For households heading into winter, that translates directly into higher monthly bills — regardless of how careful they are with energy use.

Motor vehicle repair costs are up nearly 10 percent. 

A routine brake job or oil-related repair that once cost a few hundred dollars now routinely runs higher, with fewer cheap alternatives as cars become more complex.

Care for elderly relatives at home — one of the fastest-growing expenses for middle-aged Americans — has jumped 10.8 percent in a single year.

Even services people rarely think about until tax season are rising sharply. Tax return preparation costs are up more than 9 percent, adding to the burden at a time when many households are already stretched.

This is the inflation Americans feel most acutely — because these are expenses they cannot postpone or shop around for easily. The figures collide with Trump’s claims.

Speaking from the White House on Wednesday night, President Donald Trump painted an upbeat picture of the economy, claiming his administration has pulled it back from ‘the brink of ruin’ and delivered broad-based price relief.

‘I am bringing those high prices down and bringing them down very fast,’ Trump said, urging Americans to ‘look at the facts’.

Trump pointed to costs ranging from gas and groceries to airfare and hotel stays, repeatedly comparing today’s prices with those under former President Joe Biden.

The Daily Mail analysed the prices of all the individual items the BLS monitors and found huge variations in how costs have changed over the past year — laid out in the graphic above. 

Still, Wall Street cheered the lower overall inflation rate, with all three major stock indexes rising. 

Investors bet that cooling inflation will allow the Federal Reserve to keep cutting interest rates.

The Fed has already lowered its benchmark rate to 3.5 percent as job market worries intensify. 

Unemployment claims have climbed to 4.6 percent, the highest level in four years — a troubling backdrop for any talk of a booming economy.

‘While the November figure is admittedly noisy, it offers hope for a different inflation narrative than what we’ve seen over the past six months,’ said Bret Kenwell, an investment analyst at eToro.

But he cautioned that one report does not make a trend, and that further data will be needed to confirm any real shift.

The deeper problem for the White House is that inflation hasn’t disappeared — it has changed shape.

Prices for electronics, airfare and some household goods have fallen. Eggs are down more than 13 percent. Smartphones cost nearly 10 percent less than a year ago. Airline fares have dropped more than 5 percent.

But those declines do little to offset rising costs for essentials like food, energy, healthcare and childcare.