fate in the australian open could come at any moment. hello and welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. we begin in our health lead. a new warning from the top health experts. today dr. anthony fauci, and the acting fda commissioner say omicron is so efficient at spreading that almost everyone in the u.s. will at least be exposed to it. even if you re vaccinated and boosted. that does not mean, of course, that everyone is going to get infected or get sick. just exposed to it. the biden administration says it will send 10 million test kits to schools every month to help keep classrooms open. and the white house is actively exploring, we re told, making high-quality masks more available to americans. those efforts all could make a critical difference. right now a sliver of good news as cnn s nick watt reports. cases appear to be peaking in some places such as new york which means case counts could soon be coming down. omicron, with its extraordinary, unprecedented degree of
furniture up 14%. and gas at more than 50% from a year ago. the cost of housing, food, clothes also spiking. the 7% increase in inflation over the last year is the highest jump in nearly four decades. while it s nowhere near historic highs of nearly 15% from 1980, it s one of the biggest challenges facing policymakers and the white house. we are working relentlessly. we are trying to make sure that competition is robust in industries so cost savings get passed on to consumers. reporter: inflation is only part of the economic picture. which has other signs of strength, including a 3.9% unemployment rate. and historic wage growth. yet with inflation expected to remain high for much of the year, the federal reserve is signaling its intention to raise interest rates saying the economy no longer needs emergency support. we see inflation persisting at high levels longer than expected, then we will, you know, then if we have to raise interest rates more over time, we will. we
Feels confirmed today by a new labor department report. that 2021 was a year of sticker shock as inflation hit a four-decade high. the white house mindful of the serious political and economic challenges at hand tried to take the long view. this has been a unique year on a lot of accounts. and so we find ourselves in a uniquely strong economic position on a number of counts, and price increases that we need to tackle. reporter: omicron surge underscoring uncertainty in the nation s full economic rebound with high prices and limited supplies still eroding consumer confidence in the new year. president biden acknowledging the pocketbook pain saying in a statement, we are making progress in slowing the rate of price increases. at the same time, this report underscores that we still have more work to do. with price increases still too high and squeezing family budgets. nearly everything is more expensive with used cars up 37%.