WASHINGTON.- The surge in inflation in the United States is increasingly becoming a major headache for Donald Trump, who faces a crucial midterm election in less than six months. Consumer prices rose 3.8% year-on-year in April, a direct impact of the increase in fuel prices since the beginning of the conflict with Iran.
The figure, reported by the U.S. Department of Labor this morning, represents a significant increase compared to the 3.3% year-on-year rate in March, and the 2.4% recorded the previous month, before the outbreak of the war with the joint offensive by the United States and Israel.
The increase was largely driven by energy prices, which rose 3.8% compared to the previous month. The average price of gasoline in the United States is above $4.50 per gallon (3.78 liters), according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), while the price of diesel has nearly doubled since the beginning of the conflict.
In addition, the so-called "core" index – which excludes the volatile prices of food and energy – also accelerated, reaching 2.8% year-on-year in April, exceeding the 2.6% recorded the previous month.
Inflation had been slowing down since it reached its peak – 9.1% year-on-year in June 2022 – fueled by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the shock to energy markets following…
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WASHINGTON.- The surge in inflation in the United States is becoming an increasingly significant headache for Donald Trump, who faces a crucial midterm election in less than six months. Consumer prices rose 3.8% year-on-year in April, a direct impact of the increase in fuel prices since the beginning of the war against Iran. The figure, reported by the U.S. Department of Labor this morning, represents a sharp increase compared to the 3.3% year-on-year rate in March, and the 2.4% of the previous month, before the outbreak of the conflict with the joint offensive by the United States and Israel. The increase was largely driven by energy prices, which rose 3.8% compared to the previous month. The average price of gasoline in the United States is above $4.50 per gallon (3.78 liters), according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), while the price of diesel has almost doubled since the beginning of the conflict. In addition, the so-called "core" index—which excludes the volatile prices of food and energy—also accelerated, to 2.8% year-on-year in April, exceeding the 2.6% recorded the previous month. Inflation had been slowing down since it reached its peak—9.1% year-on-year in June 2022—, fueled by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the shock to energy markets following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February of that year. The data released this Tuesday is another piece of bad news for Trump, who, after ten weeks of war in the Middle East, has failed to steer negotiations with Tehran to find a way out of the conflict. On Monday, the president warned that the fragile ceasefire with Iran is "on life support" and strongly rejected the response of the ayatollah regime to the latest U.S. peace proposal, which he called "stupid" and a "piece of garbage" that he "hadn't even finished reading." The Federal Reserve, which was expected to cut its benchmark interest rates this year, has adopted a cautious stance, awaiting a resolution to the conflict in the Middle East and whether the rise in energy prices will spread to other products, causing a broader inflationary surge in the United States. Donald Trump, United States, War in the Middle East.