Consumer Price Index Shoots Up 5%, Stoking Fears Of Substantial Inflation

The Labor Department reported Thursday that May's consumer price index — a measure of the average prices paid by consumers — rocketed up 5% compared to May 2020.

This has stoked fears of permanent and substantial inflation, even as the Federal Reserve and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen assured the American public that any bump in inflation will be temporary.

Here & Now's Peter O'Dowd speaks with NPR's chief economic correspondent Scott Horsley about the new report.