The US urban consumer price index (CPI-U) hit another record high in May, defying hopes of a near-term inflation peak. U.S. stock futures fell sharply on the news.

On June 10, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the us consumer price index rose 8.6% in May from a year earlier, the highest since December 1981 and the sixth consecutive month that the CPI has exceeded 7%. It was also higher than the market had expected, unchanged from 8.3 per cent in April. Stripping out volatile food and energy, the core CPI was still 6 per cent.

“The increase is broad-based, with housing, gasoline and food contributing the most.” The BLS report notes. The energy price index rose 34.6 per cent in May from a year earlier, the highest since September 2005. The food price index rose 10.1 per cent from a year earlier, the first increase of more than 10 per cent since March 1981.