Green Bay Reporter

As the Consumer Price Index recently revealed another 40-year high, the Biden Administration blamed Russia for the United States' escalating energy costs by coining the phrase #PutinPriceHike.

The data released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the 12 months ending in February showed a 7.9% annual increase, a fresh 40-year peak. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation based on dozens of common consumer goods, is at its highest level since 1982, CNBC said.

"There will be lots of headlines, but this is the number everyone expected," University of Michigan economics professor Justin Wolfers said. He tweeted that the CPI rose 0.8% last month as anticipated and inflation was 7.9% with "big contributions from gas, shelter and food. "Core CPI rose a calmer 0.5% (again as expected), and is up 6.4% over the year," he said.

Since these numbers precede the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he said, "Some more eye-catching headline inflation numbers are ahead of us."

As filling up at the pump becomes increasingly painful, the Biden Administration is faulting Russia's leader Vladimir Putin for record-high gas prices in the U.S. According to Fox News, the White House has coined '#PutinPriceHike' on Twitter and during recent public remarks. 

"For months Putin has been saber-rattling, and for months gas prices have been going up – up 75 cents since he began his military build-up," White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield said in a March 9 Tweet. "This is the #PutinPriceHike in action, and @POTUS is going to use every tool at his disposal to shield Americans from pain at the pump."

According to the Consumer Price Index, gas prices and inflation have been steadily rising over the past year, long before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Over the 12 months from January 2021 to January 2022, gasoline prices rose 40%.

As of March 10, the national gas price average is $4.32, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). The average in the state of Wisconsin is $4.05 per gallon.

A February report from Statista said U.S. inflation has been steadily increasing since Biden took office in January 2021. CPI data shows increases in the indexes for gasoline, shelter and food were the largest contributors to the seasonally adjusted all items increase. The gasoline index rose a sharp 6.6% in February and accounted for almost a third of items in the monthly increase. In January, the gas index fell 0.8%.

The index for fruits and vegetables had the largest increase, rising 2.3% for its largest monthly increase since March 2010.

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, food prices overall had increased 7% over the 12 months starting January 2021. The most significant spike was reported for meat, poultry, fish and eggs, which jumped 12% over the year.

For the 12 months ending in February, grocery prices jumped 8.6%, the biggest year-over-year increase since 1981, the government told ABC News.

According to Reuters, Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24.