Consumer price index rose 7% in December from a year ago, marking the fastest increase since June 1982, when inflation hit 7.1%. Core prices, which exclude more volatile measurements of food and energy, soared 5.5% from the previous year – a sharp increase from November, when it rose 4.9%. Rising inflation is eating away at strong gains and wages and salaries that American workers have seen in recent months – bad news for President Biden, who has seen his approval rating plunge as consumer prices rose. The Federal Reserve is expected to begin hiking interest rates as soon as March in order to combat the recent price surge. Hiking interest rates tends to create higher rates on consumers and business loans, which slows the economy by forcing them to cut back on spending. . . .
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