KEY POINTS

• The consumer price index surged 6.2% from a year ago in October, the most since December 1990.
• Core inflation, stripping out food and energy, increased 4.6%, the fastest gain since August 1991.
• Energy, shelter and vehicle costs led the gains, which more than wiped out the wage increases that workers received for the month.

Inflation across a broad swath of products that consumers buy every day was even worse than expected in October, hitting its highest point in more than 30 years, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

The consumer price index, which is a basket of products ranging from gasoline and health care to groceries and rents, rose 6.2% from a year ago, the most since December 1990. That compared with the 5.9% Dow Jones estimate.