THE torrid pace of US inflation may have eased slightly last month, but prices have remained high to the detriment of Americans’ wallets, sending President Joe Biden and the Federal Reserve racing to help.

Consumer prices in the world’s largest economy have soared by the fastest pace in more than four decades, with gas prices at the pump hitting new records daily amid the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as well as ongoing supply chain challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic.