Consumer prices up 5.7% over past year, fastest in 39 years

WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer prices rose 5.7% over the past year, the fastest pace in 39 years as a surge in inflation battered Americans as the holiday shopping season was getting under way. The November increase, reported Thursday by the Commerce Department, followed a 5.1% rise for the 12 months ending in October and kept up a trend of annual price gains running well above the 2% inflation target set by the Federal Reserve. Thursday’s report showed that consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of economic activity, rose 0.6% in November, a solid gain but below the 1.4X% surge in October. Personal incomes, which provide the fuel for future spending increases, rose 0.4% in November, slightly lower than the 0.5% increase in October.