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Last week, the public confronted a fresh round of discouraging news, as the Commerce Department showed a jump in the core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, which reached its highest level in almost three years. On Tuesday morning, conditions went from bad to worse. CNBC reported:

Prices that consumers pay for a wide range of goods and services increased at a faster-than-expected pace in April, raising further concerns about the inflationary impact on the U.S. economy.

The consumer price index rose at a seasonally adjusted 0.6% for the month, putting the one-year pace at 3.8%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.

The data, which was even worse than expected, showed consumer prices in the U.S. rising at the fastest rate since May 2023. As a related report in The New York Times noted, the price increases were “driven largely by energy prices,” which climbed as a result of the unnecessary war with Iran.

An NBC News report added, “April’s inflation rate is now rising faster than wages, which could exacerbate the affordability crisis that has already been gripping consumers.”

The latest national CNN poll found that 77% of respondents — including a majority of Republican voters — agreed that Trump’s policies have increased the cost of living. The same poll found that just 30% of Americans approve of the president’s handling of the economy, a career low for the Republican across both of his terms. That mirrored the results of the latest national Associated Press poll.

If White House officials, eager to peddle inane happy talk in defiance of Americans’ real lives, were counting on survey data to improve anytime soon, they’re likely to be disappointed.