Iran war oil shock pushes US inflation to 3.3%. It’s expected to get worse | CNN Business

A war-driven jump in gas prices helped push US inflation to 3.3% in March, marking the fastest annual pace in nearly two years, new Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed Friday. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.9%, triple the 0.3% pace seen in February, when inflation was 2.4%, the latest Consumer Price Index data showed. Gasoline prices, which rose a record 21.2% during the month, accounted for nearly three-quarters of the overall monthly increase. Economists had expected prices to jump 0.9% from the month before and for the annual rate to climb to 3.4%, according to FactSet. Ripple effects from the Iran war, which began in late February, have swiftly set back progress on inflation while amplifying longstanding affordability concerns. Americans’ wage gains, which had been outpacing inflation by roughly one percentage point for nearly three years, quickly were eaten away in March. When adjusted for inflation, average hourly earnings grew at an annual rate of 0.3% March, down from 1.3% in February. “It’s going to get a lot worse before there’s any relief,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said in an interview with CNN. “Even if the war on Ira