A key measure of consumer prices is expected to show that inflation at the consumer level spiked in December, the hottest increase in prices since the early 1980s. Economists expect the consumer price rose 0.4% in December, and 7% on a year-over-year basis, according to Dow Jones. That compares to a 0.8% jump in November, or a 6.8% gain year-over-year, the highest since 1982. Excluding food and energy, CPI is expected to have risen 0.5% or 5.4% year-over-year, when the Labor Department releases the data Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET. “Sometime in the next couple of months, we think inflation will have peaked, in December ... (full story)