INFLATION IN THE UNITED STATES RECORD A NEW RECORD.

  United States and its new inflation record.

US consumer prices soared in February, culminating in the biggest annual increase in 40 years, and inflation is poised to accelerate further in coming months as Russia's war against Ukraine drives up crude prices and other raw materials.

The consumer price index rose 0.8% last month, after gaining 0.6% in January, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.

In the 12 months to February, the CPI soared 7.9%, its biggest year-over-year rise since January 1982. This rise came after a 7.5% rise in January and was the fifth month in a row that the CPI rose above 6 percent.

Inflation has far exceeded the 2% target set by the Federal Reserve. The US central bank is expected to start raising interest rates on Wednesday to fight inflation, with economists expecting as many as seven more hikes this year.

Last month's CPI data does not fully reflect the rebound in oil prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Prices soared more than 30%, with Brent, the global benchmark, hitting its highest since 2008 at $139 a barrel, before declining on Wednesday after news the United Arab Emirates will ask its OPEC partners to raise prices. the production. On Thursday they rose strongly again.

The United States and its allies have imposed tough sanctions on Moscow, and President Joe Biden on Tuesday banned the import of Russian oil into the country. Russia is the world's second largest exporter of crude oil.

Inflation was already a problem before the Russian-Ukrainian war, thanks to spending shifting to goods from services during the Covid-19 pandemic. Billions of dollars earmarked for pandemic relief have fueled spending, which hit capacity constraints as the coronavirus upended labor market dynamics.