Article #256371

Huge miss in US jobs report suggests labor market weakening, as Middle East crisis drives oil price higher and higher

• Iran war live updates: US temporarily lets India buy Russian oil amid energy fears; Israeli military launches strikes on Beirut

• ‘We’re powerless … and hoping nothing hits us’: trapped on a tanker as Iran war escalates

The Guardian spoke to a crew member on one of the stranded tankers in the Gulf, that typically ferries vast quantities of oil from the Middle East to ports around the world.

They told us:

“When [Donald] Trump said Iran had 10 days to agree to his deal or bad things would happen, I did the math and thought we might get stuck here. And we did.

Our updated assumptions assume the energy price shock is relatively short-lived, but the effects on inflation and risks of second-round impacts will be greater if the conflict is more drawn out.

Against this backdrop, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee is likely to remain on hold for now, keeping policy in restrictive territory.