Annualized inflation in the United States registered its highest level in more than 40 years in Marchmainly due to skyrocketing gasoline prices especially with the war in Ukraine.
Prices rose 8.5% in 12 months, compared to 7.9% in Februaryaccording to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) released Tuesday by the Labor Department.
The report is the first to cover the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions against Moscow, which has sent food and energy prices soaring around the world.
In a month, prices rose 1.2%, compared to 0.8% in February. The price of gasoline in the United States alone soared 18.3% from the previous month, and accounted for about half of inflation, the department said.
Total energy prices rose 11% from February, which included a 22.3% jump in oil prices, according to the report.
For a year now, inflation has been above the 2% target the Federal Reserve (US central bank) set.
Wall Street opened higher
The New York Stock Exchange opened higher on Tuesday despite a figure of inflation high in USA-
Treasury bond rates fell and that helped the stock market in early trading: the Dow Jones advanced 0.57%, the Nasdaq 1.02% and the S&P 500 0.7%.
On Monday, the New York stock market closed clearly in the red precisely because of the rise in Treasury bond yields given the prospect of a strong inflation in March.
The Dow Jones lost 1.19% to 34,309.07 points. The technological Nasdaq yielded 2.18% to 13,411.96 units and the S&P 500 1.69% to 4,412.60
Source: AFP
