INFLATION HITS: U.S. consumer prices increase at fastest annual rate in nearly 13 years
By Jonathan Garber | FOXBusiness
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U.S. consumer prices increased in May at the fastest annual rate in nearly 13 years.
The Labor Department said Thursday that the consumer price index in May rose 5% year over year, hotter than the 4.7% increase that was anticipated. The reading was above last month’s 4.2% print.
Prices jumped 0.6% month over month, quicker than the 0.4% increase that was expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
The annual data has a "base effects" skew due to the decline in prices that occurred at the start of the pandemic.
Used car and truck prices surged 7.3%, accounting for about one-third of the index’s gain. Food prices, meanwhile, rose 0.4% matching April’s increase. Energy prices were unchanged from April as a decline in gasoline prices was offset by an increase in natural gas and electricity costs.
Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, in May rose 3.8% annually, making for the biggest increase since June 1992. Core prices increased 0.7% month over month, outpacing the 0.4% increase that was expected. The index rose 0.9% in April.
