Summary

• AIER’s proprietary Everyday Price Index vaulted 2.5 percent to 307.4 in March 2026, its second-largest monthly increase back to January 2020 (the first was an increase of 2.9 percent in March 2022).
• Consumer prices in March showed a mixed pattern, with food prices flat overall after February’s 0.4 percent gain, as grocery prices slipped 0.2 percent even while restaurant prices continued to edge higher.
• The March CPI report was, above all, the first clear inflation print to show the economic effects of the Iran war filtering directly into household prices.

By Peter C. Earle

Household costs are rising faster than mainstream inflation gauges reveal. US military adventurism is hitting Americans hard.

AIER’s proprietary Everyday Price Index (EPI) vaulted 2.5 percent to 307.4 in March 2026, its second-largest