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US inflation surges 8.3% in April, still near four-decade high

Xinhua | Updated: 2022-05-12 00:23

A pedestrian walks past a promotion advertisement on a grocery store window in the Brooklyn borough of New York, the United States, Feb 10, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

WASHINGTON - US consumer inflation in April surged by 8.3 percent from a year ago, marking the second straight month of inflation over 8 percent, the US Labor Department reported Wednesday.

The consumer price index (CPI) last month rose 0.3 percent from the previous month after increasing 1.2 percent in March, according to the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The April CPI surged 8.3 percent from a year earlier, a slightly smaller increase compared with the 8.5-percent growth for the period ending in March. The March figure was the largest 12-month increase since the period ending December 1981.

The so-called core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.6 percent in April following a 0.3-percent growth the prior month. Core CPI jumped 6.2 percent over the last 12 months, after climbing 6.5 percent in March.

Increases in the indexes for shelter, food, airline fares, and new vehicles were the largest contributors to the seasonally adjusted all items increase, according to the report.

The food index rose 0.9 percent over the month as the food at home index rose 1.0 percent. The food index climbed 9.4 percent year-on-year, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending April 1981.

The energy index declined by 2.7 percent in April after soaring by 11.0 percent in the previous month. Compared with a year ago, the energy index surged 30.3 percent.

"Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher energy prices, and broader price pressures," the Federal Reserve said in a statement after a two-day policy meeting last week.

The Fed noted that the Russia-Ukraine military conflict and related events are creating "additional upward pressure" on inflation and are likely to weigh on economic activity.

The central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by a half percentage point last week, marking the sharpest rate hike since 2000, and signaled it would keep hiking at that pace at the next couple of meetings.

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