Inflation rises sharply in October, prompting more fears of a price-growth crisis

Inflation rises sharply in October, prompting more fears of a price-growth crisis

Prices in the US kept surging in October, dashing hopes for weaker inflation and raising new worries around the strength of the recovery. The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index — a commonly used measure of US inflation — rose 0.6% in October, the said Wednesday. That came in below the median estimate of a 0.7% jump from economists surveyed by Bloomberg. It also marks the fastest inflation rate since June 2008 and a significant acceleration from the 0.3% growth seen in September. The index climbed 5% on a year-over-year basis. That compares to the forecast for a 5.1% jump and reflects the strongest one-year inflation since late 1990. Core PCE, which strips out volatile energy and food prices, rose 0.4% in October. That matched the average forecast. The uses core PCE as its inflation measure of choice, and the Wednesday print all but confirms to the central bank that inflation isn't cooling off as anticipated. The Fed and the Biden administration had expected price growth to weaken as the economy normalized. Yet hurdles in the recovery have kept prices soaring at a historic pace. Reopening fueled a spending surge as Americans deployed pent-up savings. The wave of demand quickly overwhelmed