When contending with years of budget-breaking inflation, there was at least one saving grace: For the past 34 months, the average wage was growing faster than prices were.
That’s expected to change – in short order.
When the Consumer Price Index for March is released on Friday morning, it’s expected to show that US inflation bolted higher – a direct result of the Middle East war’s energy shock.
Economists are estimating that prices leapt 0.9% from February, more than triple the pace seen in January. Such an increase would drive the annual rate of inflation to 3.4% from 2.4%.
In one