Prices popped once again in March, with the latest consumer price index showing a 1.2 percent month-over-month increase and 8.5 percent increase from a year ago, which was the highest reading since 1981.
With war raging in Ukraine and COVID-19 shutdowns wracking large parts of Asia, the jump was expected, though economists were watching closely for signs of a peak.
One data point suggesting prices could be leveling off was the core inflation reading, which cuts out volatile food and energy prices. The measure was up 0.3 percent year-over-year, lower than the consensus estimate of half a percent. In addition, used car prices, which have skyrocketed over the pandemic, declined by 3.8 percent.
"The March report shows some moderation in core CPI, month over month," said Mace McCain, the president and CIO at Frost Investment Advisors, in a statement. "However, we expect continued price pressure due to the lockdowns in China as the supply chain struggles to normalize."
The gasoline index, meanwhile, was up 18.3 percent in March and 48 percent from a year ago, contributing half of the total increase for the month.
The report was the first to fully capture the impact of the war in Ukraine, which has sent commodity prices soaring and created jitters throughout financial markets globally.
"The Russia-Ukraine war has added further fuel to the blazing rate of inflation via higher energy, food, and commodity prices that are turbocharged by a worsening in supply chain problems," wrote Kathy Bostjancic, chief US financial economist for Oxford Economics. "This will lead to a higher near-term peak in inflation and a slow descent through 2022."
Shelter prices were up a half a percentage point, and food prices were up 1 percent for the month.
Elon Musk may not have founded Tesla, but he has become the company, and it’s become him. Now sales are plummeting. Is he toxic for the Tesla?
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
Europeans upset with Elon Musk still aren’t buying his electric cars, adding to a long losing streak for his company.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
