Rising petrol costs drive sharp inflation increase in US in August

Petrol prices jumped 3.9 percent month-to-month, accounting for one-third of the overall inflation increase in August.United States consumer prices jumped in August, marking the largest monthly increase in four months, in advance of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting as expectations for an interest rate hike continue to rise.Consumer prices rose 0.4 percent last month, following a 0.1 percent increase the month before, according to the US Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Friday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Brent crude surpasses $100 a barrel as Iran, US escalate attackslist 2 of 3Trump says Iran war ‘will end immediately’ after US midterm electionslist 3 of 3Oil soars to $109, pushing up chances of US interest rate increaseend of listOn an annual basis, prices rose 3.4 percent, matching the increase recorded in July.Petrol prices climbThe increase was driven by petrol prices, which have continued to climb as tensions between Iran and the US have escalated, and bottlenecks in the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil passes through, have persisted.Petrol prices jumped 3.9 percent month-to-month and were 27.4 percent higher than a year ago. The increase in petrol prices alone accounted for one-third of the overall monthly increase in prices.Over the past week, the national average price for petrol jumped 15 cents, from $4.15 per gallon ($1.11 per litre) last Friday to $4.30 ($1.14 per litre) now, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks daily petrol prices.“The rise in prices is not slowing down—national average price of gasoline continues to rise alongside diesel, which continues to climb further into record territory,” Patrick Dehaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a post on the social media platform X.The increase comes amid a surge in crude oil prices, which crossed the $100-per-barrel mark this week for the first time since July. Brent crude, the global benchmark, hit $100 per barrel on Wednesday and climbed as high as $109 on Thursday before dipping on Friday, hovering around $104.8.