Gas prices likely kept US inflation painfully high in May

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The costs of gas, food and other necessities likely shot up in May, giving Americans no respite from the worst outbreak of inflation in four decades. Economists have forecast that overall consumer prices jumped 8.2% last month compared with a year earlier. That would be barely below the 8.3% year-over-year surge in April and the 8.5% increase in March, which was the most since 1982. And on a month-to-month basis, prices are expected to have jumped 0.8% from April to May. America’s rampant inflation is imposing severe financial pressures on families, forcing them to pay much more for such necessities as food, gas and rent.