Consumer prices jumped a whopping 8.5 percent from a year ago in March
Inflation continued its reign of terror last month, as skyrocketing energy prices and surging housing costs pushed the metric to a fresh 40-year high, NBC News reports.
Consumer prices increased 8.5 percent from a year ago in March, "the fastest inflation rate since 1981," The New York Times reports, and the sixth straight month in which inflation came in above 6 percent, per The Wall Street Journal.
A "substantial chunk" of the jump can be attributed to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its resulting effect on food and gas prices, the Times and the Journal note. But surging rental rates have also had hand in the problem — rents "climbed 4.4 percent in March year-over-year, compared with 4.2 percent in February," reports NBC News.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In somewhat better news, however, economists expect the price increases to cool in the coming months, given gas prices have begun to slightly drop.
"These numbers are likely to represent something of a peak," Gregory Daco, an economist at Ernst & Young, told the Times. Researchers are also expecting consumers to pare back their spending on goods, "potentially taking pressure off overburdened supply chains and allowing prices for those products to moderate," the Times writes.
But of course, there's plenty of uncertainty ahead that could alter that projection — the ongoing war in Ukraine and China's COVID-19 outbreak, for example.
Otherwise, the high prices come at a time when "the overall economy is strong and the labor market is tight," the Journal notes.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
The de-extinction process to bring woolly mammoths back to life
Under the Radar Biotechnology start-up's stem cell research brings possibility of genetically engineered species a step closer
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
Today's political cartoons - March 17, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - history repeating, the Pope's white flag, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The Week Unwrapped: Derelict homes, Welsh mines, and vinyl
Podcast What can we do about abandoned property? Are old mines still doing us harm? And what do LP sales tell us about the economy?
By The Week Staff Published
-
Waitrose vs. M&S: 'battle for the middle class'
Talking Point Marks & Spencer is eating away at Waitrose's traditional customer base
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Feds cap credit card late fees at $8
speed read The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule to save households an estimated $10 billion a year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Immigration helped the US economy outpace peers
speed read The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.2% last quarter
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Nigeria's economic woes: what went wrong for African nation
Under the radar President Tinubu is struggling to tackle soaring inflation after 'shock therapy' of ending fuel subsidies
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
4-day workweek gets boost from UK study
Speed Read Following a six-month trial, the majority of participating British companies are still using the truncated schedule
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US sues to block Kroger-Albertsons merger
Speed Read The Federal Trade Commission sued to block the $24.6 billion merger between the grocery giants
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Nvidia sees historic stock rise on AI chips success
Speed Read U.S. chipmaker Nvidia achieved the biggest one-day increase in value of any company in history
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New York may seize Trump's assets for $450M penalty
Speed Read The former president likely owes $600 million from two civil judgments in New York
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published