A humming U.S. economy is pushing inflation up to levels that the central bank considers healthy. But there’s a downside: Americans’ paychecks are barely keeping up, the Wall Street Journal reported. Consumer prices rose 2.9 percent over the past year, a rate last exceeded in late 2011, the Labor Department said on Friday. Core prices — those outside of volatile food and energy-related expenses — climbed 2.4 percent, the biggest annual gain since September 2008. The rising cost of things like rent, gasoline and health care is another sign the economy is kicking into a higher gear after years of slower growth. But rising prices are now eating up much of Americans’ wages gains, restraining their ability to spend in the future. For just the second time in four years, average hourly earnings — after inflation — fell over the past 12 months, a separate Labor Department report Friday showed. Workers still came out ahead — barely — but only because they increased the number of hours they worked. Weekly earnings, adjusted for inflation, grew 0.1 percent in the past year.
