Wall Street has closed sharply lower after official data showed the inflation rate in the United States has hit a 30-year high.
All three major U-S stock indexes have suffered losses, with the tech-rich Nasdaq dropping by one-point-seven percent. The slump comes as official data indicate an increase of over 6-percentage points in the Consumer Price Index compared to last year. High demand from consumers with spare cash plus a shortage of workers and disrupted supply chains have pushed prices higher. President Joe Biden has acknowledged that inflation is hurting Americans and that controlling it is a top priority for his administration. Biden has argued that his one-point-two trillion-dollar infrastructure plan can help bring down the costs. Opponents of the plan believe such a spending spree would accelerate the rising inflation rate.