May 13, 2021 Consumer prices, from used cars to airline tickets, shot up in the US last month. But some economists think policy makers in Washington can and should ignore seemingly eye-popping inflation data, and worry instead about the recovery in the labor market. The consumer price index (CPI), which measures what people pay for goods and services like clothing and restaurant meals, soared 4.2% in April from a year before, the biggest increase in more than a decade, according to a Labor Department report yesterday. The so-called core price index, which excludes prices on food and energy, and can be more volatile, jumped 3% in April from a year before.