The consumer price index (CPI) climbed 8.5 percent over the 12 months to March, the biggest jump since December 1981 as Americans paid more for gasoline, food, and other essentials
Gasoline prices hover around $4.00 a gallon for the least expensive grade at several gas stations in the nation's capital on April 11, 2022 in Washington, DC. The high fuel prices are a combination of the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic, supply chain breakdowns, high inflation and the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia. (Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Washington, United States: Americans paid more for gasoline, food and other essentials last month amid an ongoing wave of record inflation made worse by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to government data released Tuesday.
The consumer price index (CPI) climbed 8.5 percent over the 12 months to March, the biggest jump since December 1981 and a sign of the pressure President Joe Biden's administration is under even as it looks for more ways to punish Moscow for the attack on its neighbor.
The inflation surge has dragged Biden's approval lower since it began last year, and the president sought to pin the blame on Russian President Vladimir Putin and the invasion's disruptions to global energy markets.
"Seventy percent of the increase in prices in March came from Putin's price hike in gasoline," Biden argued during a speech in Iowa, though the Labor Department said it accounted for closer to half.