In a report shared first with CNN, JPMorgan analyzed Chase card spending data and estimated that the 20% spike in gas prices since the war in Ukraine began is lowering non-gas consumption by about $9.6 billion a month. “Despite the buffer of excess savings, elevated gas prices nevertheless appear to be weighing on real consumption,” JPMorgan US economist Peter McCrory wrote in the report. The bank found that the impact of high gas prices on consumer spending takes time to accumulate, with the drag not clearly evident until two to three months following the gas price spike. Pump prices were already elevated heading into February when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent them surging even higher. JPMorgan said high gas prices impose a “greater hardship” on families that are less able to adjust their consumption.

Source: CNN May 13, 2022 14:51 UTC