Inflation in May rose to the highest year-over-year spike in four decades, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Consumer Price Index for May was 8.6 percent higher than in May 2021. The Labor Department called the price increases “broad-based,” underpinned particularly by shelter, gasoline and food.
The increase was 1.0 percent in May compared to April on a seasonally adjusted basis. Not including food and energy, the month-to-month increase was 0.6 percent, which matched the increase in the prior month.
“While almost all major components increased over the month, the largest contributors were the indexes for shelter, airline fares, used cars and trucks and new vehicles,” the department wrote in its monthly report this morning. “The indexes for medical care, household furnishings and operations, recreation and apparel also increased in May.”
Among the index components, airline fares jumped the most. The increase in airfares was 12.6 percent.
The department’s recreation index rose 0.4 percent in May, the same percentage increase as in April.
The price of groceries rose the most on a percentage basis since 1979. Five of the six grocery categories posted price gains of more than 10 percent in 12 months.
