By Howard Schneider
WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) – A U.S. economy that has weathered a year of trade, immigration and other shocks now faces a new test likely to ratchet up uncertainty after President Donald Trump’s decision to launch open-ended attacks against Iran with the stated goal of toppling the Middle Eastern country’s long-ruling Islamist government.
With counter-strikes underway throughout the region and Trump saying the conflict could go on for weeks at least, analysts focused on a long list of imponderables as oil prices jumped over the weekend from $70 to nearly $80 a barrel and shipping through the strategic oil lanes in the Strait of Hormuz began grinding down.
Though the U.S. is more buffered from energy shocks than many of its allies because of domestic oil and gas production, the global impact on trade, prices and investment could spill…
