The data showed that the energy index rose by 1.1 percent in March following a 2.3 percent increase in February. Despite the Federal Reserve holding interest rates steady since July 2023, inflation continues to pose a problem for policymakers and households.
"There is no improvement here, we're moving in the wrong direction," said Bankrate Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride in an interview with Fox Business. "The usual trouble spots persist, like shelter, motor vehicle insurance, maintenance, repairs and service costs. Add electricity to that list, up 0.9 percent in March and five percent over the past year."
Part of the reason for the surge in energy prices is due to the push to replace fossil fuels and nuclear power plants with renewable subsidies and green-energy mandates.
Gasoline prices also continue to hit American pocketbooks hard. Though prices have fallen off their peak from 2022, the cost of gasoline remains 52.1 percent higher than it was when Biden first took office. The gasoline and electricity index also increased in March, climbing 1.7 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.
The Biden government has depleted much of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to bring down gasoline costs. However, the relief has only been temporary, with prices again starting to rise across the country. Moreover, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the energy index jumped 2.1 percent.
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Additionally, Biden claimed his government’s massive green energy investments would reduce energy costs. The Inflation Reduction Act, a legislative cornerstone of Biden’s term in office, allocated $369 billion to environmental and energy projects. Despite passing the act in 2022, the law has done little to lower energy prices. For example, the average cost of electricity has jumped from $0.136 per kilowatt hour in January 2021 to $0.174 per kilowatt hour in March 2024, a nearly 28 percent increase, BLS data indicated. (Related: Biden blames inflation on CLIMATE CHANGE, citing bogus study.)
Energy costs play a significant role in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). On a monthly basis, prices rose by 0.4 percent, primarily driven by shelter and gasoline, which contributed more than half of this increase. Also, it is not just energy costs hitting Americans, but even prices related to the energy sector have seen crippling increases. The National Pulse previously reported that energy commodity prices have spiked by 47.6 percent since 2021. Additionally, leasing costs for cars and trucks are up 45.0 percent over the same period.
In March, prices increased by 3.5 percent compared to the same month last year, according to the 12-month percentage change in the CPI, the monthly inflation rate for goods and services in the United States.
As global financial leaders gather in Washington this week for the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, the outlook for the world's short-term economic fortunes may center on whether the surprising U.S. success is being driven more by constructive forces like increased labor supply and productivity or by outsized fiscal deficits that continue stoking demand and, potentially, inflation, Reuters reported.
"One answer supports what Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee has labeled a 'golden path' where strong growth and falling inflation coexist, not only in the U.S. but in other countries tied to it through exchange rates and trade channels that have kept imports near record highs," Reuters added. "The other may point to a bumpy ride ahead if the Fed concludes that U.S. demand remains too strong for inflation to fall, and decides it has to postpone expected interest rate cuts or resort to rate hikes it had all but taken off the table."
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