Here's the inflation breakdown for April 2026 — in one chart

Fuel prices are displayed on a sign as customers fill their vehicles at a gas station on April 13, 2026 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle | Inflation jumped in April to the highest level in nearly three years as surging gas prices due to the Iran war pushed up the cost of many consumer goods. The consumer price index, a key inflation measure, rose 3.8% in April from a year earlier, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. That's up from 3.3% in March . The April data paints a clearer picture of the financial fallout for consumers after, at that point, more than a month of conflict in the Middle East. "American households are going to continue to struggle trying to manage through this, and that's going to be the case for the foreseeable future," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's. High oil prices create a 'double squeeze' Earlier this week, President Donald Trump rejected Iran's latest proposal to end the war, sending oil futures higher. Iran has continued to restrict energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway used to transport about a fifth of the world's oil . "It's like the aorta artery in your body," said Brian Bethune, an economics professor at Boston College. "When that is choked down, it is the whole global economy that is affected." Oil prices — as measured by Brent crude oil , a global price benchmark — spiked to $118 per barrel by the end of April from roughly $70 per barrel before the conflict began. …