Inflation in the United States reached a record four-decade high in May as the price of gasoline, food, and other necessities increased, leaving American households with no relief from growing costs.

The US Labor Department reported Friday that consumer prices rose 8.6 percent year-over-year in May, accelerating from April's 8.3 percent year-over-year increase.

From April to May, prices increased by 1 percent, a significant increase from the 0.3% increase from March to April. The majority of this rise was due to significantly higher petrol prices.

The rampant inflation in the United States exerts enormous constraints on families, pushing them to pay significantly more for food, gas, and rent and diminishing their capacity to buy non-essentials such as haircuts and technology. Specifically, lower-income Black and Hispanic Americans are struggling because, on average, more of their income is spent on needs.

Friday, US President Joe Biden was expected to speak about price increases at the Port of Los Angeles, the nation's busiest port. As a result of COVID's restrictions on ship unloading capacity, supply chains have been disrupted for more than a year.

Inflation is anticipated to decline this year, albeit not by a large margin. Some economists predict that the government's inflation gauge, the consumer price index, will fall below 7 percent by the end of the year. In March, the year-over-year CPI reached its highest level since 1982, at 8.5%.

High inflation has also compelled the Federal Reserve to implement what will likely be the most rapid run of interest rate increases in the past three decades. The Fed intends to reduce spending and growth sufficiently to limit inflation without triggering a recession by rapidly increasing interest rates. It will be a challenging balancing act for the central bank.

Most Americans disapprove of Biden's handling of the economy, citing excessive inflation as the country's most pressing issue. In advance of this fall's midterm elections, congressional Republicans are pounding Democrats on the subject.

Inflation has remained elevated despite a shift in the causes of price increases. Initially, the high demand for items from Americans confined to their homes for months due to the COVID pandemic led to supply chain disruptions and price increases for automobiles, furniture, and appliances.

Now that Americans have resumed spending on services such as travel, entertainment, and dining out, airline tickets, hotel rooms, and restaurant meals have increased in price. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has increased oil and natural gas prices even more. Moreover, due to China's loosening of COVID restrictions in Shanghai and elsewhere, an increasing number of its inhabitants are driving, driving up oil prices even further.

In the coming months, costs are anticipated to decrease. Many prominent stores, including Target, Walmart, and Macy's, have reported that they will be forced to discount patio furniture, electronics, and other things they ordered while demand is higher.

Despite this, rising gas prices negatively impact millions of Americans' wallets. Nationally, prices at the pump are averaging about $5 per gallon and are inching closer to the inflation-adjusted high of approximately $5.40 set in 2008.

Research by the Bank of America Institute, which utilizes anonymized data from millions of their customers' credit and debit card accounts, demonstrates that consumers' gas expenditures consume a more significant portion of their budgets and limit their capacity to purchase other goods.

In the last week of May, households with incomes below $50,000 spent roughly 10 percent of their total credit and debit card spending on gasoline in the last week of May. This is a significant increase in a short period since it compares to a rate of approximately 7.5% in February.

The Institute discovered that spending by all bank clients on durable products, such as furniture, electronics, and home improvement, has decreased from a year ago. However, their airfare, lodging, and entertainment expenditures have continued to climb.

Economists have cited this shift in spending from commodities to services as a trend that should reduce inflation by the end of the year. However, when earnings rise steadily for many employees, so do costs for services.