Inflation, if you believe what the government tells you, ran at 3.9% in the 12 months ending this April, but was it more like 5% or even 10%?

According to CNN “part of the disconnect may be due to the fact that nondurable goods, such as food and gasoline, makes up only 12% of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the main measure of inflation.

In addition, food and energy prices are eliminated from the so-called core CPI, which many economists tend to focus more closely on because they claim food and gas prices are volatile.

But food and energy costs are a very important part of household budgets. And those prices have been skyrocketing: Gas prices were up about 21% over the 12 months ending in April.

So-called “seasonal adjustments” also come into play. Because of these adjustments, the government reported that gas prices were 2% in April, despite the fact that on a non-adjusted basis, gas prices rose 5.6% from March.

For more on how how seasonal adjusting skews inflation, read on at Mish Shedlock’s blog.