US inflation highest in 40 years, with no letup in sight
Associated PressWASHINGTON — Inflation soared over the past year at its highest rate in four decades, hammering American consumers, wiping out pay raises and reinforcing the Federal Reserve’s decision to begin raising borrowing rates across the economy. The Labor Department said Thursday that consumer prices jumped 7.5% last month compared with a year earlier, the steepest year-over-year increase since February 1982. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled two weeks ago that the central bank would likely raise its benchmark short-term rate multiple times this year. “The upshot is that inflation is likely to remain uncomfortably high.” The steady rise in prices has left many Americans less able to afford food, gas, rent, child care and other necessities. Even excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation jumped 0.6% from December to January and 6% from a year ago.