US consumer prices climb at fastest annual rate since 1982

Washington

US CONSUMER prices rose last month at the fastest annual pace since 1982, or nearly 40 years, magnifying how rapid and persistent inflation is eroding pay cheques and increasing pressure on the Federal Reserve to tighten policy.

The consumer price index (CPI) increased 6.8 per cent from November 2020, according to Labor Department data released Friday (Dec 10). The widely followed inflation gauge rose 0.8 per cent from October, exceeding forecasts and extending a trend of sizeable increases that began earlier this year.

The median forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 6.8 per cent annual gain and a 0.7 per cent advance in the monthly measure.

The increase in the CPI reflected broad advances in most categories.

The data reinforce expectations the Fed will accelerate the wind-down of its bond-buying programme at the central bank's final meeting of the year next week. Central banks - and politicians - around the world have come under increasing pressure to address rising inflation as workers spend more at the grocery store and the gas pump.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

A faster tapering would open the door for the Fed to begin increasing interest rates, a move markets now expect by the middle of next year. Annual CPI increases are anticipated to hover near 7 per cent into 2022. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, so-called core prices rose 0.5 per cent from the prior month. The core CPI was up 4.9 per cent from a year earlier, a fresh 30-year high. BLOOMBERG