U.S. inflation surges again and stays at 40-year high, key price gauge shows

A key gauge of U.S. inflation rose a sharp 1% in June, led by higher fuel prices, in a sign that price pressures in the economy are still intense and unlikely to relent quickly.

The increase in the so-called personal-consumption price index exceeded Wall Street’s forecast. Economists had predicted a 0.9% advance.

A narrower measure of inflation that omits volatile food and energy costs, known as the core PCE, rose by 0.6% . That was above Wall Street’s 0.5% forecast.

The rate of inflation over the past year climbed to 6.8% from 6.3% in the prior month — the highest rate since January 1982.

The core rate of inflation edged up to 4.8% from 4.7% in the 12 months ended in June. It had touched a 40-year high of 5.3% in February.

The Federal Reserve views the PCE index as the best barometer of inflation trends.