U.S. consumer prices jumped 8.5% in March compared to a year ago, the biggest annual surge in more than 40 years, the government reported Tuesday.  

Price increases hit American consumers in key segments of the world’s biggest economy, with gasoline costs spiraling for motorists, housing prices jumping and the cost of food up at grocery stores, according to the report by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

The higher living costs for essential products are hitting consumers where they most feel it — in their wallets — and offsetting or surpassing workers’ bigger paychecks from wage increases. 

The inflation rate is also overshadowing the rapid recovery of the U.S. economy from the coronavirus pandemic that swept into the country two years ago, with the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs in recent months and the unemployment rate dipping to 3.6%, near the five-decade-low, pre-pandemic figure. 

The government’s report gave no indication that prices are easing, with inflation jumping 1.2% from February to March, up from eight-tenths of a percentage point from January to February.  

The March inflation figure was the first that reflected the surge in gasoline prices at service stations following Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, which roiled world oil markets while also disrupting global shipping and food supplies. 

According to the motorists’ group AAA, the average price of a gallon of gasoline (3.785 liters) reached $4.10, up 43% from a year ago, although it has fallen back somewhat in the past couple of weeks. Tuesday’s government report showed the energy index increasing 11% in March following a 3.5% increase in February. The gasoline index rose sharply in March, increasing 18.3% after rising 6.6% in February.   

Higher fuel prices have in turn boosted transportation costs for the shipment of goods, including food.  

The food index rose 1% in March compared to February. It is up 8.5% compared to the prior 12 months. 

In an effort to curb consumer spending and cut inflation, policy makers at the country’s central bank, the Federal Reserve, last month approved a quarter percentage point increase in its benchmark interest rate and could raise the rate again at each of its six remaining meetings in 2022. 

Such rate increases have a direct bearing on borrowing costs consumers and businesses pay, which could cut their spending and possibly curb inflation over the coming months. But the effect of the rate increases is uncertain.  

Increasing inflation in the United States also could play a key role in November’s congressional elections.  

Democrats now hold narrow control of both houses of Congress, but polls show voters blaming Democratic President Joe Biden for the increased prices they are paying, which in turn could give Republicans a chance to retake control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate. 
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Власники депозитів в «Ощадбанку» терміном понад 12 місяців після набуття чинності законом отримають право на дострокове їх отримання
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У переліку також 385 депутатів Держдуми Росії й дружина та донька Сергія Лаврова
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Germany’s gas reserves would last until at least late summer should Russian supplies stop now, the network regulator said on Tuesday, warning pressure on the European Union to ban Russian energy was building over civilian deaths in Ukraine.

In an interview with weekly Die Zeit, Klaus Mueller, who heads Germany’s Bundesnetzagentur, said current reserves looked slightly better than three or four weeks ago and could even last until early autumn in the event of an immediate supply halt.

With mounting civilian deaths in Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion, Europe’s largest economy is under pressure to wean itself off Russian gas and oil, as critics say the revenue provides Moscow with vital funds to wage war.

Mueller told Die Zeit reports of atrocities would increase pressure on the EU to ban Russian gas imports, which would force Germany to ration energy — a prospect he said was underestimated by many Germans.

Russia, which says it is conducting a “special military operation” in Ukraine to demilitarize and “denazify” its neighbor, accuses the United States and Britain of helping Ukraine prepare fake claims about the alleged persecution of civilians in the conflict.

Germany last month triggered an emergency plan to manage gas supplies, the first step in a three-phase plan that could result in energy rationing, with priority given to households and critical infrastructure like hospitals.

Mueller said households should not take the promise of prioritization for granted as they would have to give up some luxuries, such as saunas, if gas is rationed. He also said large apartments with one tenant should not count on uninterrupted gas supply in an emergency.

He said pharmaceutical and food companies would be prioritized under any rationing.

The EU last week approved new sanctions against Moscow, including a ban on coal imports starting in August, and Germany has stepped up efforts to reduce supplies from Russia.

Russian oil now accounts for 25% of German imports, down from 35% before the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, and gas imports have been cut to 40% from 55%. Russian hard coal imports have been halved to 25%.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said last week Germany could end Russian oil imports this year. However, Berlin has also said it could take until the summer 2024 to end its reliance on Russian gas.
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Після зупинки металургійного виробництва знову запустили доменну піч №6. Цієї доби планують виплавити тисячу тонн чавуну
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Як пояснює компанія, з перших днів повномасштабного вторгнення до України для неї «було очевидно, що зберігати присутність у Росії буде неможливо»
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The war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia are causing even more stress in an already strained global supply chain brought on by the pandemic. To see what this means to consumers and their wallets around the world, VOA’s Elizabeth Lee went to the Rocky Point Farm in Frederick, Maryland.

Camera: Mike Burke ,  Produced by: Mike Burke 
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has left a sour taste for South Africa’s citrus farmers, who are facing millions of dollars in losses due to sanctions that have closed off the Russian market. South Africa is the world’s second largest citrus exporter and farmers are scrambling to find other markets before the fruit spoils.

South Africa normally sends about 10% of its annual two billion dollars in citrus exports to Russia.

That’s now on hold because of sanctions imposed after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

Following two years of export disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, unrest, and cyberattacks on the ports, the loss of the Russian market is another blow to South African farmers.

Citrus farmer Piet Engelbrecht pulls a lemon off a tree in the 5000 hectares he farms in Groblersdal, about a three-hour drive northeast of Johannesburg.

“It’s going to be a tough year … Although demand is growing in the current markets, it’s not going that fast, rapidly that it can absorb this, the 10%,” he said.

Engelbrecht was forced to reroute a shipment of lemons this season that was on a vessel bound for Russia.

But finding new markets isn’t simple, say industry insiders, even for well-established family farms.

Justin Chadwick is the CEO of the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa. He spoke to VOA via Zoom.

“Our markets are very susceptible to oversupply. And because the product obviously can’t be stored for any length of time, if there’s too much in the market, it either has to be seriously discounted to move the fruit quicker or it just it just wastes eventually,” he said.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has also pushed up production costs with effects beyond the current season.

“A lot of our fertilizer and a lot of our fuel is also from Russia and Ukraine, so… I think it will have more of an effect in the coming few months,” said Engelbrecht.

And it’s not just exporters having to pay higher costs to get their goods to the warehouse and sent to customers.

Rising fuel costs are hitting all areas of South Africa’s transportation and trade.

Economists warn that will have a long-term effect on the economy, mainly for consumers and the poor, who spend most of their income on food.

Dawie Roodt, chief economist for the South Africa-based Efficient Group, spoke to VOA via Zoom.

“We’re going to see inflation going through the roof. What is really, really going to be bad for South Africa is that the kind of inflation that we’re going to experience will be very high levels of food inflation, because of the Ukraine and Russia being major grain producers and also other soft commodities,” said Roodt.

Back at farmer Engelbrecht’s warehouse, workers sort fruit on conveyor lines before it is packaged for export.

While South Africa’s farmers are hopeful that they can survive the loss of the Russian market, if future growing seasons are disrupted, they may have to cut jobs.

With South Africa’s unemployment rate hitting a record 35%, the citrus industry’s 120,000 workers want to see a recovery soon, so their jobs won’t be at risk.

 
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