Fuel costs rose during the first full month of the Ukraine war, sending the US inflation rate to a 40-year high in the year to March, according to the BBC. Following a double-digit jump in energy prices, consumer prices rose by 8.5 percent, the highest yearly increase since December 1981.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, US President Joe Biden imposed a ban on all oil and gas imports from the country last month. At the same time, according to the BBC, US gasoline prices hit fresh highs.
According to the US Labor Department, energy prices increased by 32% in the year to March.
Food costs increased by 8.8% within the same time period, according to the report. Food price inflation has been worsened by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, just as it has been for energy prices. Both countries are major exporters of commodities like wheat and sunflower oil.
"The Russia-Ukraine war has added extra fire to the scorching rate of inflation via rising energy, food, and commodity costs, which are turbo propelled by a worsening in supply chain concerns."
The Federal Reserve of the United States has also indicated that interest rates will be raised several times this year. Inflation and rising food and gasoline prices in Western countries, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin, will begin to exert pressure on governments there.
Prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, inflation rates were already growing as many global economies reopened following the relaxation of Covid restrictions. Prices, on the other hand, appear to be rising at a faster rate than wage increases. The average hourly earnings in the United States increased by 5.6 percent in the year to March, significantly below the most recent growth in the cost of living.
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