WASHINGTON: US inflation resurged in May as the consumer price index jumped 8.6 percent compared to 2021, the biggest increase since December 1981, according to government data released Friday.
CPI jumped one percent compared to April, after the modest 0.3 percent gain in the prior month, the Labor Department reported, far higher than expected by analysts who were looking for inflation pressures to ebb slightly.
The data showed gasoline jumped 4.1 percent in the month, with big gains in housing, airline fares and used and new vehicles.
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Energy has soared 34.6 percent over the past year, the fastest since September 2005, while food jumped 10.1 percent – the first increase of more than 10 percent since March 1981, the report said.
Food and fuel prices have accelerated in recent weeks since the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent global oil and grain prices up, and American drivers are facing daily record gas prices, with the national average hitting $4.99 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA.
Even excluding volatile food and energy components, CPI gained 0.6 percent compared to April and six percent in the latest 12 months, the data showed.
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