After Fed Cuts Rates, Biden Will Claim Credit for Economy’s Strength

The president’s speech on Thursday won’t be a “victory lap,” officials said, but it will celebrate falling inflation and borrowing costs along with solid growth.

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In a speech in Washington, President Biden will stress the need for further action to bring down the costs of housing, groceries and other daily necessities that continue to frustrate American consumers.

President Biden is set to declare on Thursday that the economy has finally reached a turning point he has long sought. With price growth cooling and borrowing costs beginning to fall, he will cast the economic moment as vindication for his often-criticized management of the recovery from the pandemic recession.

But Mr. Biden will stop short of “declaring victory” over inflation in his speech to the Economic Club of Washington, administration officials said.

Instead, the president will stress the need for further action to bring down the costs of housing, groceries and other daily necessities that continue to frustrate American consumers. That is a nod to the politics of price growth, which are challenging for Vice President Kamala Harris as she seeks to succeed Mr. Biden in the November presidential election.

“The president knows this is no time for a victory lap, which is why he will talk about the work ahead,” Jeffrey Zients, the White House chief of staff, told reporters on Wednesday.

Still, Mr. Biden appears poised to more boldly claim credit for the economy’s performance than he has in recent months. The president and Ms. Harris have struggled to shake off voter discontent over an inflation surge earlier in his presidency that has left many Americans with a lingering case of sticker shock.

In recent weeks, the president has been buoyed by a run of good news on prices, including for gasoline, groceries and the overall inflation rate, as well as the first report of rising real incomes for the typical American since the pandemic began. Mortgage rates have fallen from their recent highs, and on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a percentage point and signaled further cuts this year.

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