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An easing in core inflation pressures took the edge off the fastest headline reading since 1981 as headline CPI surged to 8.5% in March. U.S. inflation accelerated to the fastest pace in four decades again last month, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated Wednesday, but a slight retreat in core consumer prices suggests pressures may be easing heading into the summer months. The headline consumer price index for the month of March was estimated to have risen 8.5% from last year, up from the 7.9% pace in February and the fastest rate since December of 1981. On a...

Deflation picked up in the U.S. in April, pushing consumer prices down 0.8 percent compared with a month earlier, even while food prices soared. The price of gasoline dropped 20.6 percent for the month, the Department of Labor said Tuesday. The prices for clothing, airline travel, cars, recreation, and hotels all plunged while the price of groceries saw its biggest monthly increase since 1974. Compared with a year ago, prices were up 0.3 percent, Core inflation, a measure which subtracts changes in the prices of the volatile food and energy categories, fell 0.4 percent, the steepest decline ever in records...

Wal-Mart CEO Warns Of Serious Inflation In The Coming MonthsMarch 31,2011 U.S. consumers face "serious" inflation in the months ahead for clothing, food and other products, the head of Wal-Mart's U.S. operations warned Wednesday. The world's largest retailer is working with suppliers to minimize the effect of cost increases and believes its low-cost business model will position it better than its competitors. Still, inflation is "going to be serious," Wal-Mart U.S. CEO Bill Simon said during a meeting with USA TODAY's editorial board. "We're seeing cost increases starting to come through at a pretty rapid rate." Along with steep increases...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Consumer prices shot up at the fastest pace in 20 months in May, fueled by a surge in gas prices, although inflation pressures were moderate in most other areas. The Labor Department reported that its closely watched Consumer Price Index registered a 0.7 percent increase last month, the biggest advance since Hurricane Katrina shut down Gulf Coast oil production in the fall of 2005. Outside of the volatile energy and food categories, inflation rose by a much more modest 0.1 percent. That was slightly lower than the 0.2 percent which had been expected and provided reassurance that...

Tough talk on inflation, first by US Federal Reserve officials, then by Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, has got the markets rattled. Last week all the leading equity indices retreated, with the S&P 500 down 2.7 per cent, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 down 1.8 per cent, the Nikkei off 2.6 per cent and the FTSE 100 off 2.1 per cent. It looks as if investors are questioning the notion that the US, and to some extent the world economy, has entered a new "Goldilocks" phase with growth neither too hot (risking accelerating inflation) nor too cold (risking...