CPI inflation rate

The increase in the consumer price index in May was more than triple the gain in the prior month. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a ...

“U.S. inflation sped up in May, with nearly every item zooming higher, and another big core jump suggests the peak might be some ways off. The big worry on Wall Street is that inflation is shifting to services from goods. More bad news: Gas prices rose again in June and hit a record high. Either approach would be bad for the economy. The longer that goes on the more strain it will place on American households and hurt the economy. The central bank also risks inducing a recession in its effort to quell inflation. Speculation about a rate-hike “pause” in the fall looks farfetched. The last time inflation rose as rapidly was in 1981. Shelter costs account for a third or more of a typical household budget. Prices are likely to show another big increase in June. Gas prices have jumped again to record highs. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.7% advance.

The latest Consumer Price Index showed a re-acceleration in inflation, dashing hopes that price increases had peaked.

The World Bank expects the rate of global consumer price inflation to drop below 3 percent next year. By contrast, the organization partly blamed inflation in the United States on “ over-buoyant demand,” which is more responsive to tighter monetary policy. The question — and big uncertainty — is how much Fed action will be needed to bring inflation under control. Data from the index is also used to come up with the P.C.E. figures. Rents are climbing swiftly as Americans compete for a limited supply of apartments, restaurant bills are heading higher as food and labor costs rise, and airline tickets and hotel rooms cost more because people are eager to travel and because inputs like fuel and labor are more expensive. At the same time, the war in Ukraine is cutting into the world’s supply of food and fuel, pushing overall inflation higher and feeding into the cost of other products and services. Travelers can save more than $100 each on the cost of a domestic flight and hotel stay if they plan trips in late August rather than in June or July. The price of gasoline rose 4.1 percent in May over the previous month, bringing the increase from a year ago to 48.7 percent. The central bank is expected to raise its benchmark rate by half a percentage point next week, and then again in July. Polls consistently show voters rate inflation as the country’s top economic problem and expect it to worsen. Friday’s release of Consumer Price Index data from the Labor Department contradicted, at least for a month, some of the administration’s more optimistic predictions. Fed officials are watching for signs that inflation is cooling on a monthly basis as they try to guide price increases back down to their goal, but Friday’s report offered more reason for worry than comfort.

Consumer prices rose 1% during month and 8.6% from a year ago, adding more pressure on Fed to cool the economy.