August saw a spike in inflation with jumps in the prices of gas, groceries, hotel rooms, airfares, clothing and cars, according to the Associated Press.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that consumer prices climbed 2.9% last month from a year earlier. That’s up from 2.7% in July and the largest increase since January.
So-called “core” inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, rose 3.1%, in line with July.
Both August figures are above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The latest data is the last the Fed will receive before its meeting next week, where policymakers are widely expected to cut their short-term interest rate to about 4.1% from 4.3%.
