Kane County Reporter

Illinois 8th Congressional District candidate Mark Rice addressed the issue of inflation in a Facebook post dated October 11. "I will help get inflation under control because overregulation and energy are costs that gets factored into all your goods and services," he said.

"Inflation is creeping up again with core CPI being 3.3," said Rice, Candiate, according to Facebook. "Unemployment is also starting to creep up. We are not out of the woods yet. I will help get inflation under control because overregulation and energy are costs that gets factored into all your goods and services."

According to Rice, his post included a link to a CNBC report from October 10, which highlighted that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) had risen by 0.2% for the month on a seasonally adjusted basis. This increase set the annual inflation rate at 2.4%, marking the lowest rate since February 2021 and slightly below last month's figure.

Screenshot of Mark Rice's Oct. 11 Facebook post | Mark Rice for Congress Facebook page

On October 11, USA Today reported that while inflation reached a three-year low last month, consumer prices still rose by 2.4% from September 2023. This increase was lower than August's rise of 2.5%. The core inflation rate, excluding food and energy items, increased by 0.3% in September, raising core inflation to 3.3%, up from August's 3.2%. Food prices overall rose by 0.4% in September, with eggs seeing an increase of 8.4% due to an ongoing bird flu outbreak; bacon prices went up by 1.6%, raw ground beef by 0.4%, and chicken by 0.2%. Conversely, breakfast cereal and bread saw price drops of 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively.

In September, Austin Goolsbee, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, commented on the Federal Reserve's decision to reduce interest rates by half a percentage point in a report from WTTW dated September 23. Goolsbee had previously suggested that reducing inflation without triggering a recession was possible despite skepticism from experts who mocked him for this view. "But that is what happened," Goolsbee said in the WTTW report, adding that although inflation has been cut significantly without causing a recession, there is still work to be done.

Rice currently serves as CEO of Energy CX and has lived in Illinois for over three decades. Under his leadership, Energy CX has become nationally recognized for its comprehensive energy solutions with a team of seventy professionals working under him. His campaign website emphasizes his commitment to addressing concerns within the district and challenging what he perceives as corruption within the current administration.