Prices are rising at the fastest clip in nearly 40 years, fresh data released on Friday showed, as supply chain disruptions, rapid consumer demand and rising housing costs fuel an inflationary burst.The spike in consumer costs could spell trouble for officials at the Federal Reserve and the White House, who are trying to calibrate policy at a moment when the labor market has yet to completely heal from the pandemic but price increases are proving more persistent than policymakers had expected.The Consumer Price Index climbed by 6.8 percent in the year through November, the data showed, the fastest pace since 1982. After stripping out food and fuel, which can move around a lot from month to month, inflation climbed by 4.9 percent. That was the quickest annual reading since 1991.Monthly price increases — the change betwee …
