Europe inflation spikes to record 8.1%, matching US
Economists had predicted it would stay at 7.7%
Inflation among the 19 countries that use the Euro spiked to 8.1% in May, setting a new record and matching the U.S.
Eurozone inflation rose from 7.4% in April, surging past predictions that it would land at 7.7%. Inflation spikes have struck nearly all world economies in recent months, with the U.S. and U.K. each setting 40-year record highs in March and April.
U.K. consumer price inflation hit 9% for the first time since 1982 in April, and the U.S. hit 8.5% inflation in March.
Some of the inflationary pressure in the Eurozone can be attributed to the war in Ukraine and the resulting spike in price of Russian oil. Energy prices jumped 39.2% over the annual price in May, according to the Associated Press.
President Joe Biden has faced similar struggles in the U.S., saying that lowering inflation is his top economic priority. Biden made the statement on Twitter after news broke that the U.S. hit 8.3% inflation in April, hovering near the 40-year high the country hit in March.
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President Joe Biden on Saturday urged major G20 energy producing countries with spare capacity to boost production to ensure a stronger global economic recovery as part of a broad effort to pressure OPEC and its partners to increase oil supply. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci / AP Newsroom)
The U.S. has yet to release inflationary data for May.
The U.S. Labor Department released its most recent measure of the consumer price index in early May. The CPI is an aggregate measurement of everyday good including groceries, gasoline, and rents.
Biden delivered a speech blaming the inflation crisis on both the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia in mid-May. Russian President Vladimir Putin's response to Western sanctions against his invasion of Ukraine has raised gas prices in the U.S.
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Biden has committed to release 1 million barrels of oil from the country's strategic reserve for the next six months to offset the rising cost of gas.