Consumer prices rose 2.7 per cent in June from a year earlier, the US Labor Department said on Tuesday, up from an annual increase of 2.4 per cent in May.
On a monthly basis, prices climbed 0.3 per cent from May to June, after rising just 0.1 per cent the previous month.
Worsening inflation poses a political challenge for Trump, who as a candidate promised to immediately lower costs but instead has engaged in a whipsawed frenzy of tariffs that have jolted businesses and consumers.
Trump insists that the US effectively has no inflation as he has attempted to pressure Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell into cutting short-term interest rates.
Yet the new inflation numbers make it more likely that the US central bank will leave rates where they are.
Powell has said that he wants to gauge the economic impact of tariffs before reducing borrowing costs.
Excluding volatile food and energy, core inflation increased 2.9 per cent in June from a year earlier, up from 2.8 per cent in May.
On a monthly basis, it picked up 0.2 per cent from May to June.
Economists closely watch core prices because they typically provide a better sense of where inflation is headed.
The uptick in inflation was driven by a range of higher prices.
The cost of petrol rose 1 per cent just from May to June while grocery prices increased 0.3 per cent.
Appliance prices jumped for the third straight month.
Toys, clothes, audio equipment, shoes and sporting goods all got more expensive, and are all heavily imported.
"You are starting to see scattered bits of the tariff inflation regime filter in," Eric Winograd, chief economist at asset management firm AllianceBernstein, said.
Winograd also noted that housing costs, a big inflation driver since the pandemic, have continued to cool, actually holding down broader inflation.
The cost of rent rose 3.8 per cent in June compared with a year ago, the smallest yearly increase since late 2021.
"Were it not for the tariff uncertainty, the Fed would already be cutting rates," Winograd said.
"The question is whether there is more to come, and the Fed clearly thinks there is," along with most economists.
Some items got cheaper last month, including new and used cars, hotel rooms and airfares.
