📈 Axios PM: Inflation red alert

🚢 Plus: New Titanic letter | Friday, April 10, 2026

View in browser   PRESENTED BY WALMART   Axios PM By Mike Allen · Apr 10, 2026 Happy Friday! Today's newsletter, edited by Alex Fitzpatrick, is 636 words, a 2½-min. read. Thanks to Sheryl Miller for copy editing. 🚨 Bulletin: White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair is considering taking leave to help run President Trump's outside political operation, Axios' Alex Isenstadt reports. Go deeper. ⚡️ Situational awareness: Vice President JD Vance left today for Pakistan and the biggest challenge of his career: negotiating a deal with Iran, Axios' Barak Ravid writes. One U.S. official tells Barak: "This is a big deal for JD. He's going to the Super Bowl." Go deeper.     1 big thing: More inflation pain ahead   Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios March's inflation numbers tell one key story: the surge in energy prices driven by the Iran war, Axios' Courtenay Brown writes. Big price spikes in other categories — airfares, groceries, etc. — will likely follow as the energy shock reverberates through the economy. 📈 By the numbers: Overall inflation rose 0.9% last month, the largest jump since June 2022. Gas prices surged 21%. That's their biggest monthly gain in nearly 60 years, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the total rise. Core inflation — which strips out food and energy prices — rose just 0.2%, the same pace as the previous month. Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Chart: Courtenay Brown/Axios ⚡️ Energy shocks take time to have a broader effect. This one mostly hasn't registered yet in other, non-energy industries — but they're bracing for impact. ✈️ Airfares surged 2.7% in March, after February's 1.4% increase. More price hikes are likely amid skyrocketing jet fuel costs. Food prices were flat last month, though farmers and food manufacturers are warning about fertilizer shortages as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed. 🍳 There's one bit of good news: Egg prices are down about 60% from this time last year as the bird flu crisis fades. Bloomberg's BEC index — that's bacon, egg and cheese, for all the non-New Yorkers out there — fell to $2.65 in March, down nearly 20% year over year. But coffee is up about 30%, fueled by tariffs and climate change. The bottom line: The squeeze on Americans' budgets is just starting, with huge uncertainty about whether price increases will lead to less spending and an economic slowdown. Go deeper.     2. 🔌 Mapped: Steepest electric bills   Data: Heatmap News, OEDI, EIA, HUD, Census Bureau. Map: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals Americans are spending an average of $158/month on their home electric bills, Alex Fitzpatrick and Erin Davis report based on Heatmap News estimates. 💵 Nantucket County, Mass. ($296); San Francisco County, Calif. ($282) and Nobles County, Minn. ($273) had the highest estimated average monthly electric bills in the continental U.S. in 2025. Counties in Alabama and Texas dominate the top of the most-expensive list, broadly speaking. A new Alabama measure will freeze base rates until 2029, among other reforms to the state's utilities regulator. 👀 What we're watching: Whether efforts to contain energy prices — like forcing tech companies to foot the bill for their AI power needs — actually work. Go deeper.     A MESSAGE FROM WALMART Helping American businesses grow and hire     Walmart is investing in U.S. manufacturing, supporting businesses like Athletic Brewing and helping to create jobs in communities like Milford, Conn. More than two-thirds of Walmart's annual product spend is on American-made, grown or assembled goods. Learn how Walmart supports communities.     3. ⚡️ Catch me up   Graphic: NASA 🪂 Artemis II's splashdown is set for just after 8 p.m. ET tonight off the coast of San Diego. How to watch. 🥃 Sazerac, the maker of Buffalo Trace bourbon and cinnamon-flavored Fireball, has reportedly made a takeover approach to Brown-Forman, maker of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey. Go deeper. ⚓️ The U.S. Navy is decommissioning the USS Boise, an attack sub that has long sat idle and become synonymous with the service's maintenance backlog. More from Axios' Colin Demarest.     4. 🚢 1 for the road: Titanic history unveiled   American writer Archibald Gracie's Titanic letter on display. Photo: Esteban L. Hernandez/Axios A letter written by a Titanic survivor just five days before it sank is on public display for the first time, Axios Denver's Esteban L. Hernandez reports. American writer Archibald Gracie wrote in a note dated April 10, 1912: "It is a fine ship this, but I shall await my journey's end before I pass judgment on her." 📝 Gracie's note is making its historic debut at Denver's Molly Brown House Museum, alongside other Titanic relics. Margaret Brown — aka the "Unsinkable Molly Brown" — was also among the survivors. Have a look ... Get Axios Local.     A MESSAGE FROM WALMART How American businesses are growing with Walmart     Athletic Brewing started working with Walmart in 2020. Since then, they've created over 100 jobs in Milford, Conn. and San Diego, Calif. The story: Walmart's $350 billion investment in products made, grown or assembled in America is supporting the creation of over 750,000 new U.S. jobs. Learn more.   📬 Thanks for reading! Please invite your friends to join PM. 👆 Like this comms style and format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Bring it to your org — via hands-on training or internal comms software — to harness its power and impact.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Advertise with us. Axios, PO Box 101060, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. To stop receiving this newsletter, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: