Inflation Nation: Consumer Prices Surged Much Higher Than Expected in June

Consumer prices surged by much more than expected in June.

The Consumer Price Index rose 5.4 percent compared with a year ago, the Department of Labor said Thursday. On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.9 percent—nearly twice as much as expected.

Core inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, rose 0.9 compared with 12-months ago and 0.9 compared with May.

Economists had expected the Labor Department to report that consumer prices rose 0.5 percent in June compared with May, down a tick from the 0.6 percent initially reported in the previous month.  The consensus forecast was for a 5.0 percent gain when measured against June of 2020, which would have been tied with May, the hottest reading since skyrocketing energy prices pushed up the index in the fall of 2008.

Inflation has come in above expectations for three months in a row. The June monthly figure is the highest since June 2008, when prices jumped 1 percent in a single month.