Inflation hits record high of 7.5% in countries using euro

BRUSSELS (AP) — Inflation has hit a record for the 19 countries that use the euro. The European Union’s statistics agency reported on Friday that annual inflation hit 7.5% for April, topping 7.4% from March. The eurozone’s sixth consecutive inflation record comes as skyrocketing fuel prices boosted by the war in Ukraine weigh on the region’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Eurostat says energy prices jumped a startling 38%, a testimony to how the war and the accompanying global energy crunch are affecting the eurozone’s 343 million people. The jump in European prices reflects some of the same factors that pushed U.S. annual inflation to 8.5% in March, the highest since 1981.