US consumer prices surge 4.2 percent in April, biggest jump since 2008

Inflation rose at its fastest pace in more than 12 years for April as businesses reopened and the pandemic eased, the feds said Wednesday. 

The Labor Department’s consumer-price index, which measures a basket of goods as well as energy and housing costs, jumped 4.2 percent in April from a year earlier. That’s the biggest 12-month jump since the summer of 2008.  Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected a 3.6 percent spike in prices.