US Inflation Rate Remains High Amid Ongoing US-Iran Conflict
The US inflation rate remained high in August, with prices rising by 3.4% over the past year.
The overall inflation rate was unchanged from July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), but gasoline prices soared 3.9% last month alone, accounting for more than a third of inflation overall.
Higher global oil prices, caused by supply disruptions as a result of the US-Iran war, have driven up fuel costs, with diesel reaching a new all-time high of over $6 per gallon on average in August.
The price of benchmark Brent crude oil is hovering above $100 a barrel following recent escalations in the conflict, making transporting goods more expensive and pushing up prices for food and other staples.
Jamie Hagen, president of Hell Bent Xpress, a family-owned trucking company in South Dakota, said higher oil prices were hurting his business: 'I've already invested in new equipment. We thought the economy was gonna start humming and now everybody's paused. Like someone turned the faucet off.'