Red-Hot Inflation Gets Even Hotter

Economists figured the new inflation report would be brutal—the stats are the first to fully encompass rising gas prices in the wake of the Ukraine war—and the figures from March released on Tuesday were just that. In fact, they came in a little worse than expected:

• Annual: Prices rose 8.5% in March when compared to March a year ago, the biggest such jump since 1981, reports the AP. The increase is even bigger than the the 7.9% jump registered in February, which was the previous 40-year high. Most analysts projected a rise of 8.4%, reports CNBC.
• Streak: This marks six straight months of inflation of at least 6%, notes the Wall Street Journal.

• Monthly: Prices rose 1.2% from February alone, the biggest jump since at least 2005.
• 'Red flag': “We’re seeing strong inflation momentum across the board, both for goods and services,” Blerina Uruci of T. Rowe Price Group tells the Journal, adding that supply-chain issues continue to hurt. “To me, this is a red flag. The other red flag is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the rise of COVID in China. Those pose risks that the so-called normalization of supply chains takes longer to materialize.”

(More inflation stories.)