Jon Endelmann of Clarksville, Ind. carries the family haul during Black Friday holiday shopping at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

       WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer prices rose 5.7% over the past year, the fastest pace in 39 years, as a surge in inflation confronts Americans with the holiday shopping season under way.

       The November increase, reported Thursday by the Commerce Department, followed a 5.1% rise for the 12 months ending in October and kept up a trend of annual price gains running well above the 2% inflation target set by the Federal Reserve.

       Thursday’s report showed that consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of economic activity, rose 0.6% in November, a solid gain but below the 1.4% surge in October.

       Personal incomes, which provide the fuel for future spending increases, rose 0.4% in November, slightly lower than the 0.5% increase in October.

       The big jump in the Commerce Department’s price gauge was similar to the rise in the consumer price index, which was up 6.8% for the 12 months ending in November, also the biggest surge by this measurement in 39 years.

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