Consumer prices jump 7.5%, fastest pace in 40 years

The Labor Department says the prices Americans are paying climbed rapidly last month and are jumping at a pace not seen in 40 years. The department says the consumer price index — a key measure of inflation — surged 7.5 percent over the last 12 months, which is the largest 12-month increase since February 1982. The index surged 0.6 percent in January alone.

Increases in the indexes for food, electricity and shelter were the largest contributors to the overall price increases last month, the DOL data indicates. The food index increased seven percent over the last year and the energy index soared by 27 percent.

President Joe Biden reacted to the report in a statement Thursday, acknowledging it as “a reminder that Americans’ budgets are being stretched in ways that create real stress at the kitchen table,” but touting “signs that we will make it through this challenge.”

Source-ABC