US inflation climbed 3.6 percent in April compared to the same month of 2020 as prices recovered from the mass business disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to government data released Friday. The spike in the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index was the largest reported by the Commerce Department since September 2008, and comes as economists grapple with whether government stimulus and loose Federal Reserve policy will cause the world's largest economy to overheat. cs/hs