US consumer prices soared 6.2% in past year, most since 1990

File – Clarence Vaughn, pumps gas in Oak Park on Jan. 31, 2019. Prices for U.S. consumers jumped 6.2% in October compared with a year earlier as surging costs for food, gas and housing left Americans grappling with the highest inflation rate since 1990. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)