Inflation Woes

Food inflation is the highest in almost two decades, driven by record prices for oil, gas and mounting global demand for staples such as wheat and corn, and for proteins such as chicken. The consumer price index for food rose 4% last year, compared with an average 2.5% annual rise for the last 15 years. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture raised its forecast for next year by half a percentage point, to a range of 4.5 to 5.5%. Kimberly-Clark, maker of Kleenex tissues, Huggies diapers and a host of other consumer products, said Friday it would raise prices 6% to 8% in the third quarter to offset higher raw material and energy costs.

The biggest factor in the skyrocketing price of gasoline is the historic ascent of crude oil, which has surged from $45 per barrel in 2004 to more than $135 this past week, setting new record highs all the while. s consumers began hitting the road Friday for the Memorial Day weekend, they faced the sobering reality that it costs $72 to fill a midsize Honda Accord, up $12 from last year, and in a sign that Americans are curbing their driving, data released Friday showed highway miles driven in March fell 4.3% from a year earlier, the first March decline since the late 1970s. On average, drivers in Alaska, Connecticut, California, New York and Illinois are already paying more than $4 for gas. The average nationwide price Tuesday morning was $3.94.

• At a time when gas prices are at an all-time high, Americans have curtailed their driving at a historic rate. The Department of Transportation said figures from March show the steepest decrease in driving ever recorded. Compared with March a year earlier, Americans drove an estimated 4.3 percent less -- that's 11 billion fewer miles, the DOT's Federal Highway Administration said Monday, calling it "the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history." Records have been kept since 1942.

Airlines ratcheted up the pressure on fliers ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, significantly raising ticket prices to offset the runaway cost of fuel. The three biggest carriers each boosted most domestic fares by up to $60 roundtrip. Travelers will pay the biggest increase on routes of 750 miles or more — less than the distance from New York to Chicago — that low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines Co. do not serve.