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The US inflation rate has jumped to its highest level in nearly 40 years, adding woes for consumers and compounding the issue as a political liability for President Joe Biden.
The consumer price index rose 0.5 percent last month after surging 0.8 percent in November, the Labor Department said on Wednesday.
It pushed annual inflation to 7 percent in December, the highest increase since June 1982 and up from November's 6.8 percent annual rate.
A labor shortage is boosting wages, sending costs higher for businesses, and chaos in the supply chain is showing little sign of easing as Omicron sidelines workers by the millions, suggesting that high inflation could persist well into 2022.
Annual inflation hit 7% in December, the highest 12-month increase since June 1982
Shelves displaying meat are partially empty as shoppers makes their way through a supermarket on Tuesday in Miami. The coronavirus Omicron variant is still disrupting the supply chain causing some empty shelves at stores and increasing inflation pressure
Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation rose 0.6 percent on the month in December for an annual gain of 5.5 percent, the fastest
