July 15, 2021—The consumer price index has climbed 5.4 percent in the year through June, a surge that is most heavily tied to the drastic increase in used car prices, the New York Times reported.
The more than five percent increase is the highest year-over-year inflation change since 2008. Policymakers expect inflation will fade as the economy gets through a volatile pandemic reopening period, but how quickly that will happen is unclear, the report said.
Used car prices alone rose 10.5 percent in June as the industry grapples with the ongoing semiconductor shortage.
