President Joe Biden reportedly blames Russia President Vladimir Putin for rising gas prices. | whitehouse.gov
President Joe Biden reportedly blames Russia President Vladimir Putin for rising gas prices. | whitehouse.gov
New information from the Consumer Price Index put out by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics March 10 demonstrate a 7.9 percent annual increase, which is a 40-year high. Gas prices continue to increase as well, causing the Biden Administration to coin the phrase #PutinPriceHike as they blame Russia for the situation.
The new data went back for 12 months.
"CPI rose 0.8 percent last month, much as expected," University of Michigan economics professor Justin Wolfers said. "Over the year, inflation was 7.9 percent. Big contributions from gas, shelter and food. Core CPI rose a calmer 0.5 percent (again as expected), and is up 6.4 percent over the year. There will be lots of headlines, but this is the number everyone expected."
The White House reportedly blames Russia for the price increase, as reported in a March 9 Fox News article.
"For months Putin has been saber-rattling, and for months gas prices have been going up – up 75 cents since he began his military build-up," Kate Bedingfield, White House communications director, said March 9. "This is the #PutinPriceHike in action, and @POTUS is going to use every tool at his disposal to shield Americans from pain at the pump."
Despite those claims, gas prices in the U.S. were rising before the war, with a 40-percent increase over the past two Januaries, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The war in Ukraine began Feb. 24.
The Consumer Price Index report indicted the index for fruits and vegetables had the biggest uptick, going up 2.3 percent, representing its largest monthly uptick since March 2010. The data shows increases in the indexes for gasoline, shelter and food were the biggest contributors to the seasonally adjusted items increase. The gasoline index also went up by 6.6 percent in February. In January, the gas index conversely went down by 0.8 percent.
The purpose of the consumer price index is to measure inflation. AAA reported the average gas price is $4.36, showing another area where prices have went up, with that number changing daily. Grocery prices have also gone up by 8.6 percent in the past 12 months, the biggest increase in 40 years, ABC News reported March 10.
Alerts Sign-up