The White House is increasingly concerned about rising inflation.

Rising prices are putting increasing pressure on President BidenJoe Biden28 Senate Democrats sign statement urging Israel-Hamas ceasefire Franklin Graham says Trump comeback would 'be a very tough thing to do' Schools face new pressures to reopen for in-person learning MORE and the Federal Reserve to prevent inflation from derailing the recovery from the coronavirus recession.

A surge of consumer demand unleashed by government stimulus, improving vaccinations and fewer pandemic restrictions is putting a strain on global supply chains. Manufacturers and other hard-hit industries are struggling to get back up and running after a year of lockdown measures, causing supply shortages and raising costs.

All of those factors combined to push the consumer price index (CPI) up 0.8 percent in April and 4.2 percent over the past 12 months, the fastest annual rate since 2008, the Labor Department reported this past week. When stripping out the more volatile prices for food and energy, the index registered the biggest monthly increase since 1982.

While the ramped-up consumer spending is a sign of increased optimism, the Biden administration faces political risks as Americans find themselves dealing with inflation levels that the country hasn’t seen in more than a decade.

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