Inflation worries have rattled US markets, but should we be concerned?

The major stock indexes are on track for their worst week in more than six months.

US inflation for April rose by 0.8 percent, taking the annual increase of prices to 4.2 percent, which is much higher than analysts were expecting.

The concerns have hit the NZ dollar as well, which was down more than a percent today.

Independent economist Tony Alexander told Heather du Plessis-Allan that a big reason for that is the US economy reopening and people going shopping and facing shortages.

"I think it's best at the moment to treat this as transitory."

However, if similar numbers are seen over the coming months, Alexander says that the US Federal Reserve will have to raise interest rates before 2024. 

He says we haven't seen an inflationary surge that could be sustained since before the Global Financial Crisis, and things have changed since then. 

"It is pretty much very experimental at this stage." 

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