In the first half of 2011, spikes in food and gasoline prices strained the budgets of many Americans and sparked fears of more persistent inflation. http://bit.ly/rVDzzU



Nonetheless, the Federal Reserve expected such price spikes to be temporary and forecasted the overall inflation rate to stay in the neighborhood of 2.5% in 2011, with the core consumer price index (which strips out food and energy) to grow in the range of 1.5% to 1.8%.1 http://amplify.com/u/a1kej9