Wholesale prices in the United States rose sharply in April, pushed by a surge in energy costs related to the Iran war, registering their highest 12-month increase in more than three years.

The Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 6.0 per cent for the 12 months ending in April, the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) said on Wednesday, the highest level since December 2022.

Month-on-month prices rose by 1.4 per cent, sharply higher than expectations and at their highest level since March 2022.

The world’s largest economy has been battling stubbornly high inflation since the pandemic, with US President Donald Trump’s signature tariffs and the US-Israel war on Iran piling pressure on prices.

Iran’s retaliation to US-Israeli strikes has seen the Middle East engulfed in violence, with Tehran virtually blocking the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway through which a fifth of global energy supplies pass.

“Over 40 per cent of the April advance in prices for final demand goods can be attributed to a 15.6-per cent increase in the index for gasoline,” the BLS said.

The increase was sharply up from March, when year-on-year PPI inflation was 4.0 per cent. That figure, too, was fuelled by higher energy prices due to the Iran war.

The wholesale prices came a day after US consumer inflation also came in at a three-year high, registering at 3.8 per cent year-on-year in April.

Trump has made tackling high prices a key part of his political agenda, but has been unable to bring prices significantly lower — other than for some commodities — since returning to power last year.

Inflation will be a major political issue for voters heading into the midterm elections in November, where control of both houses of the US Congress will be up for grabs.