Inflation jumps tofour-year high in US

Americans are souring on the US economy to a degree never before seen, with the stiffest inflation in four years exacerbating the political risk for President Donald Trump, who some administration officials worry has lost focus on affordability problems for voters as he trains attention on the war against Iran.

Few issues resonate with US voters more deeply than price increases, and the latest inflationary upswing is unsettling key insiders at the White House, who are worried about their Republican Party's prospects in critical midterm elections less than seven months away.

Republican lawmakers and senior White House aides have for months urged Trump to focus more on the economy, which is the top concern for voters. Trump has struggled, however, to show that he feels Americans' pain and has repeatedly declared victory over inflation, despite official data showing otherwise.

Data from the Labour Department on Friday showed inflation soared in March, the first full month of the war the US and Israel launched against Iran on February 28, which resulted in Tehran choking off a fifth of the world's oil supply from flowing through the critical Strait of Hormuz.

The resulting upward spike in crude oil prices drove a record-setting increase in gasoline costs across the US, Bureau of Labour Statistics data showed, and that pushed headline inflation up by the most since June 2022, when the post-COVID pandemic price surge that ravaged former President Joe Biden's political prospects hit its peak.

Alongside that, household sentiment over the economy took a nosedive, with the University of Michigan's benchmark Consumer Sentiment Index sliding to a record low at the beginning of April. "Demographic groups across age, income, and political party all posted setbacks in sentiment, as did every component of the index, reflecting the widespread nature of this month's fall," survey Director Joanne Hsu said in a statement.

And it was not just Trump's perennial critics among Democrats giving low marks to the state of the economy now and its prospects for the future.