U.S. inflation has soared due to the Trump administration’s ongoing war with Iran.
The Consumer Price Index for March showed a 0.9 percent jump from February, meaning prices are 3.3 percent higher year-over-year. Prices leapt 0.9 percent from February, three times the pace seen in January.
Economists had been bracing for a significant uptick in inflation as a result of the Middle East conflict, which began when the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran February 28.
The Iran war has also spiked global energy prices, with oil regularly racing past $100-a-barrel in the past month. The average gas price in the U.S. hit $4 a gallon.
The fuel price surges are largely attributed to Iran’s de facto blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trade artery through which 20 percent of the world’s oil flows.
Experts had warned that these surges would quickly ripple through the broader economy, pushing up the costs of groceries, air travel and shipping.
“We’ll definitely see elevated prices eating away at people’s paychecks,” Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told CNN.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration began ramping up its messaging on affordability ahead of the midterm elections. “If [Democrats] seize power, they will spend every minute trying to ‘turn back the clock’ to Record Inflation,” the president wrote on Truth Social last month.
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Source: independent.co.uk