U.S. consumer price index (CPI) jumped 3.3 percent in March from a year earlier, the fastest pace in nearly two years, as soaring energy costs drove the sharpest monthly increase since 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.
The March CPI was nearly a full percentage point higher than February’s annual pace, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. On a monthly basis, consumer prices advanced 0.9 percent.
Energy costs drove the surge, with the index up 10.9 percent in March. Gasoline prices alone jumped 21.2 percent, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the overall monthly increase.
Meanwhile, the core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy components to measure underlying inflation, increased more modestly, rising 0.2 percent for the month and 2.6 percent on a year-over-year basis. The data captured a period of rapidly escalating commodity prices, fueled in part by the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, before a fragile ceasefire took hold this week. While the truce has offered some reprieve, energy costs remain well above pre-war levels.
The ripple effects of the energy surge are being felt widely by American consumers.
US March inflation hits near two-year high, driven by energy price surge
Football fever is set to return in eastern China's Jiangsu Province this weekend as the Jiangsu Football City League, or "Suchao", kicks off its new season.
Changzhou will face Nantong in Saturday's opener, launching a 78‑match regular season that will run from April 11 to September 19, with all games set for Saturday evenings across 13 cities.
Suzhou head coach Chan Yuen Ting said the squad is combining intensive daily training with technology to sharpen performance.
"The players are having intensive trainings every day. To ensure the improvement of their athletic performance, we are also using high-tech tools and data analysis to assist the training," said Chan.
Chan explained that each Suzhou player now trains in a vest fitted with a monitoring system that tracks running distance and sprint speed in real time, giving coaches a sharper picture of fitness levels. The squad list for this season includes 50 names, more than 30 of them under 22, a youth wave balanced by a handful of seasoned veterans
For 34‑year‑old defender Chen Wei, one of Suzhou's most experienced players since the inaugural 2025 season, building on‑field chemistry with younger teammates has become the focus of his training.
"My training partners are defenders, mainly from the U22 group. During regular matches and trainings, I would share some detailed experience with them. We are now becoming more and more coordinated," Chen said.
Officials said this year's Suchao season has drawn more younger players than 2025, with rising numbers of U22 players filling provincial rosters.
"The registration across the province was basically at full capacity. The final valid number of registered participants reached 647, with an average player age of 22.32 years, a decrease of 1.77 years compared to 2025," said Liu Tong, deputy director of Jiangsu Provincial Sports Bureau.
Suchao became a national sensation in 2025 with its mix of local pride and derby drama. Stadium crowds topped 2.43 million for the season, averaging more than 28,000 per game, while online viewership soared past 2.2 billion streams.
Football fever returns as China’s Jiangsu Super League kicks off new season
