WASHINGTON, July 16: Soaring energy prices drove US consumer prices up a hefty 1.1 per cent in June to an annual rate of 5.0 per cent, data showed on Wednesday amid rising stagflation concerns.

The monthly advance in the Labour Department’s consumer price index (CPI) was the sharpest since June 1982, while a 0.3 per cent rise in core CPI excluding energy and food was the strongest since January.

The surprisingly stiff momentum in consumer prices exceeded analysts’ consensus forecasts of a gain of 0.7 per cent in headline inflation and a 0.2 per cent rise in core inflation.

In May, headline inflation was up 0.6 per cent from April and the core rate increased 0.2 per cent.

On a 12-month basis, CPI was up 5.0 per cent in June, the hottest annual inflation level since May 1991. Core CPI was 2.4 per cent higher than in June 2007, the strongest rate since March.—AFP