Propelled by surging costs for gas, food and housing, U.S. consumer inflation jumped 7.9 per cent over the past year, the sharpest spike since 1982 and likely only a harbinger of even higher prices to come.
The increase reported Thursday by the Labour Department reflected the 12 months ending in February and didn’t include most of the oil and gas price increases that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Since then, average gas prices nationally have jumped about 62 cents US a gallon to $4.32, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
Even before the war accelerated price increases, robust
