It was last seen three decades ago, when rising inflation, surging unemployment and failing growth crippled the U.S. economy.

No one would welcome its return.

It's not that the economy is faced with this grim scenario just yet. But a prolonged war, continued gains in oil prices or the economy's failure to recharge soon might make stagflation a possibility in the not-so-distant future.

In periods of stagflation, economic growth remains very weak, but inflation roars ahead -- as it normally would during times of rapid expansion.

It's a term that was coined in the 1970s after the OPEC oil embargo caused a dramatic surge in the cost of crude oil and gasoline and sent inflation soaring.

"High inflation pushed up interest rates and eroded buying power and, as a result, consumer and business spending remained soft, preventing the economy from growing," said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at Wells Fargo & Co. in Minneapolis. "It was a vicious combination of factors."

and business spending remained soft, preventing the economy from growing," said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at Wells Fargo & Co. in Minneapolis. "It was a vicious combination of factors."

Every few years, fears of returning stagflation turn up. Most recently, there was some talk of it in the spring of 1994.

This time around, a slight gain in inflationary pressures -- after months of no inflation concerns at all -- spurred some speculation about stagflation making a comeback.

Much of that was fueled by the recent surge in oil prices, which have reached levels not seen since 1990 as the United States prepares for a potential war in Iraq at a time when crude supplies are extremely tight.

There also have been price jumps in other commodities, including metals, cotton, aluminum and food products like wheat, corn and beef.

All that led to the much bigger-than-expected 1.6 percent January gain in the Labor Department's producer-price index, which tracks wholesale costs. It was the biggest monthly increase in 13 years.

"The economy is still very weak and unemployment is not coming down," said Gary Thayer, chief economist at the St. Louis-based investment firm A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. "We don't want a flashback to the 1970s when people were seeing their job situation deteriorate while their earnings were getting squeezed."

The key to avoiding stagflation will be a sharp reduction in oil prices and an immediate turnaround in the economy.

Rachel Beck is the national business columnist for The Associated Press. Write to her at rbeck@ap.org.