If it felt like your money was disappearing way too fast last month, this might help explain why. The U.S. Labor Department released its latest Consumer Price Index on Wednesday and it shows that a lot of things got much more expensive in April. The monthly index tracks what people are paying for all kinds of essential goods and services—and, according to TheWall Street Journal, it jumped an overall 4.2 percent in April compared to a year earlier—the highest year-on-year increase since the summer of 2008. The most dramatic price increase came from sales of used vehicles, which spiked 10 percent in price last month partly due to a global chip shortage that has crippled the production speed of new cars. But the food index rose by 0.4 percent, and prices for things like housing, recreation, and household furnishings also made up part of the overall jump.
