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In May, the U.S. inflation rate reached 5 percent for the preceding 12 months, the biggest surge since August 2008 when it touched 5.4 percent, the U.S. labor department reported.
The rate accelerated faster than economists had expected, according to the Financial Times.
The core inflation rate, which leaves out food and energy, was a more subdued 3.8 percent over the period but still the biggest 12-month jump for that measure since June 1992.
Home furnishings gained more in price than during any period since January 1976.
New car price tags added 1.6 percent in May from April; the global computer-chip shortage has left more eager consumers chasing fewer cars.
The shortage of new vehicles has driven more shoppers to the used car market, pushing up the price of better used cars 7.3 percent, accounting for a third of inflation’s accelerated pace.
The price of renting a car also has soared.
Consumers are resuming leisure travel after spending more than a year locked down, but rental companies sold much of their fleets to raise cash when the travel economy crashed during the lockdown.
Fewer available cars multiplied by a sudden glut of travelers equals higher rental rates.
Spending on “food away from home” grew 0.6 percent, its sharpest rise since last September.
Over March, April, and May, prices grew at an annualized rate of 9.7 percent, the department noted.
Forty-eight percent of U.S. small businesses raised selling prices last month, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business.