Insight - Faster US inflation erases years of undershot targets

Rising cost: Shoppers at the Food Lion on Strickland Road in North Carolina. Consumer prices have surged following the re-opening of the economy. ― Bloomberg

RAPIDLY rising consumer prices as the United States economy re-opens after the pandemic have erased years of below-target inflation, intensifying questions about when the central bank will start reducing monetary stimulus.

US consumer prices rose at a compounded annual rate of 3% per year over the two years to June 2021, the fastest two-year increase since October 2008, according to data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics.