EXPLAINER: Why US inflation is so high, and when it may ease

Inflation’s relentless surge didn’t merely persist in June. It accelerated. For the 12 months ending in June, the government’s consumer price index rocketed 9.1%, the fastest year-over-year jump since 1981. And that was nothing next to what energy prices did: Fueled by President Biden's energy policies, energy costs shot up nearly 42% in the past 12 months, the largest such jump since 1980. Even if you toss out food and energy prices — which are notoriously volatile and have driven much of the price spike — so-called core inflation soared 5.9% over the past year.