US inflation hits new three-year high amid energy price surge

Consumer inflation in the United States increased at the fastest pace in three years as surging oil prices amid tensions with Iran weigh on global energy markets before the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week. Inflation rose by 0.5 percent in May compared with the prior month, following a 0.6 percent jump in April, according to the US Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and was 4.2 percent higher than this time last year. …