Iran War Pushes Inflation to Highest Rate in Nearly Three Years

The war in Iran is driving a sharp increase in inflation, as surging gasoline prices ripple through the American economy, dealing a blow to a White House that has staked its economic credibility on bringing costs down.

The Labor Department's consumer price index (CPI) rose at a 3.8 percent annual pace in the year ending in April, up from 3.3 percent in March and much hotter than the 2.4 percent in February.

Higher energy prices accounted for much of the month-to-month gain in prices in April of 0.6 percent. Gas prices rose 5.4 percent last month and were up about 30 percent over the past year. Shelter costs, which had been artificially suppressed by a data quirk tied to last fall's government shutdown, rebounded in April.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.