Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics By Ella Koeze But the strong monthly figure for May, which came on the heels of a sharp rise in April, showed that prices have been moving up quickly for more than just technical reasons. The critical question is whether that is a transient trend tied to reopening or something more persistent. “We are at peak heat, this is the moment,” said Julia Coronado, founder of the research firm MacroPolicy Perspectives, who expects inflation to remain in line with the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent average goal over time. “We know we’ll get a fade — the question is, how big is the fade?”