US inflation builds with biggest gain in consumer prices since 1990

The consumer price index increased 6.2% from October 2020

US consumer prices rose last month at the fastest annual pace since 1990, cementing high inflation as a hallmark of the pandemic recovery and eroding spending power even as wages surge.

The consumer price index increased 6.2 per cent from October 2020, according to Labor Department data released Wednesday. The CPI rose 0.9 per cent from September, the largest gain in four months. 

Both advances exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Higher prices for energy, shelter, food and vehicles fuelled the supercharged reading and indicated inflation is broadening out beyond categories associated with reopening.

Stocks opened lower,