{"id":26419,"date":"2026-03-11T05:34:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T05:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=26419"},"modified":"2026-03-11T05:34:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T05:34:00","slug":"iran-war-disrupts-oil-prices-consumers-may-be-hammered-economist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=26419","title":{"rendered":"Iran war disrupts oil prices; consumers may be ‘hammered’: economist"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In February, Americans were feeling pretty good about their financial standing. But that was before the Iran war, which is threatening to upend household budgets.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0New York Federal Reserve survey<\/a>\u00a0released Monday found that consumers expected\u00a0inflation\u00a0to be lower in the year ahead, and households, overall, said they were <\/strong>better off than a year ago.\u00a0The New York Fed’s monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations was fielded from Feb. 2 through Feb. 28.<\/p>\n

That same day, the U.S. and Israel\u00a0attacked Iran, causing the biggest oil supply disruption in history. U.S. crude prices soared more than 35% as a result, recently notching the\u00a0biggest weekly gain\u00a0since the futures contract began trading in 1983.\u00a0<\/p>\n

U.S. oil prices went on to hit a high of $119.50 on Monday, and the national average gasoline\u00a0price topped $3.50 a gallon as of Tuesday, up 21% from a month ago, according to\u00a0AAA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Though U.S. oil prices dropped below $90 per barrel Monday afternoon and continued to slide on Tuesday, they remain far above the near $60-per-barrel level where they started the year. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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President Donald Trump\u00a0posted<\/a>\u00a0on Truth Social Sunday evening that a gain in “short term oil prices” was a “very small price to pay” for “safety and peace.” <\/p>\n

However, experts say surges in energy costs have fed into longer-term inflation fears.<\/p>\n

“Consumers threaten to be hammered by the surge in oil prices, which has already lifted the cost of a gallon of gas by 50 cents,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s, told CNBC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“If oil prices stay near current levels of $100 per barrel, gasoline will be closing in on $4 a gallon by this time next week.\u00a0Inflation will quickly accelerate, cutting into consumers’ purchasing power, and hitting consumer spending, GDP and jobs,” Zandi said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a>All eyes on affordability <\/h2>\n
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Read more CNBC personal finance coverage<\/h2>\n
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