The report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday showed inflation reached 3.3% year-over -year in March, notably higher than the 2.4% rate in February and the highest level since 2024. Energy prices led the increase, climbing 10.9%, with impacts spreading to other sectors, including airfare.
Those rising costs are being felt at the pump, where both households and small businesses are navigating higher fuel prices.
"For the moment, we are actually eating that cost," said Savannah Gregory, owner and lead instructor of Drivers of the Future, a local driving school.
Gregory shared the business has taken steps to try and mitigate the impact.
"We're being a lot more cognizant of our routes with students and just our logistics as far as scheduling, keeping commute times between students in a smaller area so that we're able to keep our expanded service area while maintaining that balance," noted Gregory.
She added the business is moving forward with adding driving simulators, a step they had previously been considering.
"This has definitely been the sort of catalyst and the push to say, okay, the time is certainly now more than ever before, we need to look into these creative solutions and be resourceful," Gregory shared.
According to AAA, the average price for a gallon of regular gas in North Carolina is $3.94, about a dollar higher than a year ago. largely flat over Despite news of a two-week ceasefire sending crude oil prices down, prices at the pump have not budged much.
"It usually takes two to four days for stations to start lowering prices, and it usually is a trend that will continue so long as stations see lower prices," said Patrick De Haan, Head of Petroleum Analysis with GasBuddy.
Industry analysts say diesel prices are pushing costs higher throughout the supply chain.
"The price of diesel now in North Carolina is record setting. It's above even 2022," said De Haan. "Many states are well above $5 a gallon for diesel. And as a result, anything that moves through diesel - supply chains, anything that's shipped, distributed - is seeing a much higher cost, and that cost is in the process of being passed along."
Officials from the US and Iran are set to meet in Pakistan this weekend to hold negotiations regarding the war.
"All eyes really on this weekend for talks between the US and Iran. If the outcome is good, if the Strait of Hormuz actually does start to see some resumption, that could even push prices lower. But so far, even after Iran had signaled it would open the Strait (of Hormuz), we still haven't really seen much activity. The next move really is going to be contingent on the talks between the U.S. and Iran this weekend. Gas prices will start to trickle lower. How long that will happen is really contingent on those talks and what comes out of them," said De Haan.
"Financial markets are now expecting that some version of this deal will go through, at least from what we can tell. It seems like if that goes according to what the market's expecting, then this might be only a one-month surprise that we see in inflation, and then starting when we get the April numbers, we might get back to the 2.5% (inflation rate) where we've been," added Aeimit Lakdawala, an Associate Professor of Economics at Wake Forest University.
Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, increased to 2.6%, only slightly higher than in February. Some grocery categories, including meat, poultry, fish and eggs, saw modest price declines.
"Generally, there are some good signs mixed with the bad signs with energy. Overall, it's the core picture, which is that excluding food and energy, remains roughly the same as we had been expecting and has been happening in the last couple of months," said Lakdawala.
The White House responded to the report, with Senior Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai writing in part, "President Trump has always been clear about short-term disruptions as a result of Operation Epic Fury, disruptions that the Administration has been diligently working to mitigate."
For now, Gregory and her team navigating the price shifts as best as they can.
"The economy does go up and down, so you have to brace for that as a small business owner in general. However, it has absolutely been challenging and it's something that we are facing with as much American spirit as possible."
A new inflation report shows prices rose in March, driven largely by surging energy costs tied to the war in Iran, adding pressure for consumers and businesses across North Carolina.
The report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday showed inflation reached 3.3% year-over -year in March, notably higher than the 2.4% rate in February and the highest level since 2024. Energy prices led the increase, climbing 10.9%, with impacts spreading to other sectors, including airfare.
Those rising costs are being felt at the pump, where both households and small businesses are navigating higher fuel prices.
ABC11 Price Tracker
"For the moment, we are actually eating that cost," said Savannah Gregory, owner and lead instructor of Drivers of the Future, a local driving school.
Gregory shared the business has taken steps to try and mitigate the impact.
"We're being a lot more cognizant of our routes with students and just our logistics as far as scheduling, keeping commute times between students in a smaller area so that we're able to keep our expanded service area while maintaining that balance," noted Gregory.
According to AAA, the average price for a gallon of regular gas in North Carolina is $3.94, largely flat over the past week, despite news of a two-week ceasefire sending crude oil prices down. The figure is about a dollar higher than a year ago.
"It usually takes two to four days for stations to start lowering prices, and it usually is a trend that will continue so long as stations see lower prices," said Patrick De Haan, Head of Petroleum Analysis with GasBuddy.
Industry analysts say diesel prices are pushing costs higher throughout the supply chain.
"The price of diesel now in North Carolina is record setting. It's above even 2022," said De Haan. "Many states are well above $5 a gallon for diesel. And as a result, anything that moves through diesel - supply chains, anything that's shipped, distributed - is seeing a much higher cost, and that cost is in the process of being passed along."
Officials from the US and Iran are set to meet in Pakistan this weekend to hold negotiations regarding the war.
"Even after Iran had signaled it would open the Strait (of Hormuz), we still haven't really seen much activity. So the next move really is going to be contingent on the talks between the U.S. and Iran this weekend. Gas prices will start to trickle lower. How long that will happen is really contingent on those talks and what comes out of them," said De Haan.
"Financial markets are now expecting that some version of this deal will go through, at least from what we can tell. It seems like if that goes according to what the market's expecting, then this might be only a one-month surprise that we see in inflation, and then starting when we get the April numbers, we might get back to the 2.5% (inflation rate) where we've been," added Aeimit Lakdawala, an Associate Professor of Economics at Wake Forest University.
Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, increased to 2.6%, only slightly higher than in February. Some grocery categories, including meat, poultry, fish and eggs, saw modest price declines.
"Generally, there are some good signs mixed with the bad signs with energy. Overall, it's the core picture, which is that excluding food and energy, remains roughly the same as we had been expecting and has been happening in the last couple of months," said Lakdawala.
The White House responded to the report, with Senior Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai writing in part, "President Trump has always been clear about short-term disruptions as a result of Operation Epic Fury, disruptions that the Administration has been diligently working to mitigate."
For now, Gregory and her team navigating the price shifts as best as they can.
"The economy does go up and down, so you have to brace for that as a small business owner in general. However, it has absolutely been challenging and it's something that we are facing with as much American spirit as possible."