U.S. March CPI Expected to Rise Due to High Energy Prices

BlackRock strategists have indicated that the impact of high energy prices is likely to be reflected in the U.S. March CPI data, which is set to be released on Friday. According to Jin10, economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal generally expect the year-on-year unadjusted CPI for March to increase from 2.4% in February to 3.3%. The strategists noted that the Middle East conflict has caused supply chain bottlenecks, which are anticipated to drive inflation higher.