WASHINGTON - A hike in the cost of gas due to the conflict in Iran, now in its second month, caused a hefty 1.7 percent increase in US retail sales in March, according to data released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday.

Sales at gas stations skyrocketed by 15.5 percent, the largest gain since the government started tracking the series in 1992, said the data.

While a rise in retail sales is usually viewed as positive, an increase in those figures based on gas price hikes is bad news for consumers.

The war in Iran has been raging since Feb 28, disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20 percent of the world's oil traverses, causing oil prices to increase.

Economists contend that if the conflict continues, energy prices will rise further, putting a dent in the wallets of Americans who depend on their personal vehicles as their main means of transportation.

"If the situation with Iran is not resolved quickly, oil and gas prices will rise further," Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told Xinhua. "This will seriously dampen consumer spending, if not actually push it into negative territory."

US officials warn that energy prices could remain elevated for some time.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday that gasoline prices in the United States might not get back below 3 US dollars per gallon until next year, at a time when the Iran conflict has caused tumult in energy markets.

"I don't know, that could happen later this year, that might not happen until next year, but prices have likely peaked," Wright said on CNN's "State of the Union," in answer to whether gas prices will return to levels seen before the war started. "Certainly with a resolution of this conflict, energy prices will go down."

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday extended the two-week ceasefire with the Islamic Republic, claiming that Iran's government was "seriously fractured."

The ceasefire was initially supposed to conclude on Wednesday, but Trump said it would continue until Tehran submits a "unified proposal" to end hostilities.

The president's announcement came on the heels of reports that a trip by Vice President JD Vance to Pakistan for a second round of peace negotiations had been postponed.

It also came after Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Iranian negotiators had told the US government through a third party that they would not attend further talks.

On Tuesday, average US gas prices stood at around 4 dollars a gallon -- roughly a dollar more per gallon than the same time a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association.

The severe disruption of oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has caused the price of oil to surge, hovering over 90 dollars a barrel on Tuesday. That's up from pre-war prices of around 65 dollars per barrel.