WASHINGTON: U.S. annual consumer prices jumped 9.1% in June, the largest increase in more than four decades, leaving Americans to dig deeper to pay for gasoline, food, healthcare and rents, and the Federal Reserve most certain to hike interest rates by another 75 basis points at the end of the month.
The bigger-than-expected rise in the year-on-year consumer price index reported by the Labor Department on Wednesday also reflected higher prices for a range of other goods and services, including motor vehicles, apparel and household furniture. The CPI increased by the most in nearly 17 years on a monthly basis.
The inflation data followed stronger-than-expected job growth in June and suggested that the U.S. central bank’s aggressive monetary policy stance had made little progress thus far in cooling demand and bringing inflation down to its 2% target. –Agencies
