New York, June 10 -- The US consumer inflation rose 4.2 per cent annually in May as higher energy prices led to the CPI index increasing at its fastest pace in three years. The CPI had advanced 3.8 per cent year-on-year in April. On a monthly basis, prices were up 0.5% in May after climbing 0.6% in April.

The core CPI rose 2.9 per cent year-on-year in May after increasing 2.8 per cent in April. The so-called core CPI gained 0.2 per cent on a monthly basis after rising 0.4 per cent in April. Core CPI measures inflation pressure excluding volatile food and energy prices.

The energy index increased 23.5 per cent for the 12 months ending May. The food index increased 3.1 per cent over the last year, according to the data released by the Lab...