Michael Hiltzik: Inflation has spiked. Stop worrying about it
Before Wednesday, you would have been hard-pressed to find an economist who didn't expect a surge of inflation to show up in the government's monthly price report. As of Wednesday, you'd be hard-pressed to find one who isn't shocked by the size of the surge.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics placed the increase in the Consumer Price Index at 6.2% in October over a year earlier. That was its largest 12-month increase in more than 30 years, or since November 1990.
A rise in oil prices was the single biggest factor, the BLS said, but it leached into the economy as a whole. Food prices increased. Core inflation — absent food and energy — rose 4.6% over the last 12 months, the largest such increase since August 1991.
Price hikes were seen in "shelter, used cars and trucks, and new vehicles, the indexes
