The annual inflation rate in the U.S. climbed to 4.2% in April 2021 from the reported 2.6% in March 2021; market forecasts were predicting an increase to 3.6%. Inflation in May was up 0.6% from April, pushing the year-over-year rate to 5%. It’s important to note that nearly half of the increase was due to the comparison to last May when prices across the board were falling due to COVID-19.