Washington, DC – Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its monthly inflation report, showing that inflation soared to 3.8% in April. It is the highest level of inflation in over three years and the spike is largely driven by skyrocketing gas prices due to Republicans’ war in Iran. Even worse, rising prices are now outpacing increases in Americans’ paychecks, exacerbating working families’ ongoing concerns about affordability. This comes as Americans are already feeling the impact of congressional Republicans’ tariffs and cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and health care tax credits, further squeezing household budgets.
“Today’s inflation report shows that President Trump and Republicans in Congress are directly responsible for higher prices thanks to their unnecessary war in Iran,” said Unrig Our Economy Campaign Director Leor Tal. “From pushing up everyday costs due to their war in Iran and tariffs, to cutting Medicaid and SNAP to ending the ACA tax credits, Republicans in Congress seem to be doing everything they can to make life unaffordable for working families. Affordability is Americans’ number one concern, and they need their leaders in Washington to stand up for them and not just billionaires and giant corporations.”
The Wall Street Journal: Inflation Soared to 3.8% in April, Driven by Gasoline Prices
Key Points:
- Consumer prices rose 3.8% in April from a year earlier, a clear impact of higher gas prices since the start of the war with Iran.
- Prices excluding food and energy categories—the so-called core measure economists watch in an effort to better capture inflation’s underlying trend—rose 2.8%. That compared with forecasts for a 2.7% increase, and was a pickup from 2.6% the previous month.
- “The American economy has entered a new chapter where inflation appears to have stepped up,” says Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM. He predicts the headline rate moving to 4% later this year. “Median American families are going to find it very challenging to adjust going into the second half of the year.”
- Higher energy prices due to the Iran war could filter through to many other goods in the coming months. For example, higher gas prices are pushing up the cost of transportation, which might in turn make food and clothing more expensive.
- A rise in natural-gas prices has already pushed up fertilizer costs, another reason food prices might rise. Lots of products, from lipstick to golf balls, could also be exposed to the turmoil in the Middle East since their production processes use oil derivatives.
- Economists worry that rising inflation will further eat into workers’ weekly earnings, resulting in lower demand for goods and services.
- The average nationwide cost of one gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is roughly $4.50, compared with $3.14 a year ago, according to AAA.
- Consumer sentiment hit a record low in April, largely due to soaring prices at the pump.
To learn more about the campaign, visit UnrigOurEconomy.com or contact press@unrigoureconomy.com
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About Unrig Our Economy
Unrig Our Economy is a national campaign to fix the rules of our economy to make it work for working people. We know that when the middle class does well, all of us do well — which is why we’re fighting on behalf of working Americans and holding corporations, their wealthy executives, and the politicians who enable them accountable.