Pressure on Fed to raise interest rates as US inflation surges to 30-year high

• Markets shocked by 6.2% cost-of-living increase year-on-year
• Americans paying more for cars, clothes, food, and energy

Pressure on America's central bank to raise interest rates has intensified after rising energy costs, supply shortages and increased consumption sent US inflation surging to a level not seen for more than 30 years.

Although the Federal Reserve has repeatedly insisted price pressures will prove transitory", financial markets were taken aback by a 6.2% increase in the cost of living in the world's biggest economy over the past year.