Sticker Shock: Prices up on many goods as inflation spikes

NEW YORK - The price for just about everything seems to be going up and in reality, it actually is. In one year, prices surged 5%. That’s the biggest 12-month inflation spike since 2008.

The Labor Department says the rise of consumer prices in May reflects a range of goods and services growing in demand. Prices for used cars, which surged by a record 10% in April, and shot up again 7% in May. New car prices are up too, by 1%, the largest one-month increase since 2009.

Prices are also up in a wide variety of categories, from household furnishings and airfares, to vehicles, and energy costs. Lumber is even at an all-time high. Food is also up, forcing restaurants to edit their menus with higher prices.

"Food prices are going up, labor costs are going up, they rose sharply in April for the 4th consecutive month we saw beef, pork, dairy up, labor costs up," said Sam Toia, from the Illinois Restaurant Association. 

 One of the reasons has to do with historic inflation. 

Another is the labor shortage. In some cases companies, like restaurants, are bumping up prices to make up for the higher wages they’re now paying to keep or attract workers.

Also, a sudden jump in demand for things like food, as more people are in need of assistance.

 "Food Bank of the Rockies used to spend about two million dollars a year on food. Now we are spending just over a million dollars a month on food and freight," said Erin Pulling, from the Food Bank of the Rockies. 

 As for new and used vehicles, prices reflect supply chain problems that have caused a shortage of semiconductors. In addition, the lack of computer chips is limiting production of new cars.