And the labor shortage is fueling inflation: When lumber mills, for example, can’t hire to boost production to meet booming demand as tens of millions look to invest their stimulus checks or the money saved from a year of lockdown in some home improvements — so lumber prices have doubled. Such cascading bottlenecks are boosting costs across the economy. In all, consumer prices rose 0.6 percent in May over April, making a 5 percent rise over the past year, the largest 12-month inflation spike since the meltdown of 2008. Just about everything is more expensive these days: Bacon’s up 13 percent in a year, gas, 56 percent. And prices may not drop down. Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance, said that “it’s questionable that once people start paying higher prices” that “any of those increases will ever be rolled back.”