Data & financial journalist covering global economics and policy
Rising oil prices are now feeding into U.S. inflation, with energy costs driving a sharp increase in headline CPI for March. As crude climbs above $100 per barrel amid Iran war tensions, the divergence between headline and core inflation is complicating the Federal Reserve’s path on interest rates.
Oil and gas might not be the only commodities vulnerable to the disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. Fertilizers are at particular risk, as their supplies get choked at the strait, a critical shipping corridor for a third of the world’s fertilizer shipments.
The U.S. is a net oil exporter but that does not shield it from global economic shocks.
U.S. food inflation has cooled sharply from its pandemic-era peak — but the latest data come with an unusual warning label.