US consumer prices rose sharply again last month as the 10-week war with Iran drove up energy prices.
The Labor Department’s consumer price index rose 3.8 percent from April 2025, according to data released Tuesday. On a month-to-month basis, April prices rose 0.6 percent from March while gasoline prices rose 5.4 percent in the month; The month-on-month gain was down from a 0.9 percent increase from February to March.
Statistics from the Department of Labor showed that gasoline prices have risen more than 28 percent compared to a year ago. However, the AAA auto club listed the average gallon of regular gasoline at more than US$4.50 on Tuesday, about 44 percent more than it cost last year at this time.
Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core consumer prices rose 0.4 percent last month from March and 2.8 percent from April 2025, the usual readings that show the burst in energy prices has yet to spill over more broadly into other prices.
Food prices rose by 0.7 percent from March to April while meat prices rose. The prices had fallen slightly last month.
“Inflation is the drag on the US economy right now,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union wrote. “There’s a tough financial situation going on. For the first time in three years, inflation is eating away at all wage income. This is a drag on middle-income and low-income households and they know it. They’re having to cut back on spending and stretch every dollar.”
