Gas Prices

It seems that a country divided on many fronts is finding common ground at the gas pumps. There, the cost of the Iran war is hitting Americans squarely in the wallet and aggravating people across the political spectrum. That was the message from Associated Press interviews Monday with people at gas stations and beyond in five states. The national average gas price was $3.48 a gallon on Monday, up from $2.90 a month ago, before the war, according to tracking by AAA. But in interviews, some owners of electric vehicles expressed renewed gratitude for their vehicle choice as they sit out the sticker shock.

Inflation stayed stubbornly elevated last month as gas prices rose in a snapshot of what consumer prices looked like before the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran sent energy costs soaring. Wednesday’s data has been overtaken by the conflict that began when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, which has caused wild gyrations in oil prices as shipping lanes through the Persian Gulf have suffered a rare shutdown. Gas prices have already jumped and are expected to push inflation much higher when inflation data for this month is released in early April.