Inflation is nearly the highest it’s been in 13 years — and Americans don’t think that it’s coming down any time soon.
Americans expect inflation to hover around 5.3% in the next year, according to the September New York Fed Survey of Consumer Expectations published Tuesday. That’s up 0.1 percentage point from August, and is the all-time highest level for the monthly Fed survey since it started in 2013.
That said, consumers expect gas prices, food and college education costs to decrease by a median 4.2 percentage points, 1.1 points and 0.9 points respectively in the coming year, according to the survey data.
The new survey of consumer expectations comes as inflation appeared to show possible signs of cooling.
The Consumer Price Index rose at the slowest pace in seven months in August, a signal that this year’s big surge in inflation may have peaked. However, compared to last year, consumers still paid 5.3% more for goods and services across the board in August.
A separate survey showed that 79% of U.S. consumers said they’re concerned about rising prices on essential goods and services such as housing and food, according to a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults conducted by Numerator, a market-research firm.
Americans paid 2.8% and 3% more for shelter and food consumed at home, respectively, in August compared to August 2020, according to CPI data.
Inflation data for September is set to be released Wednesday morning.
This post was originally published on Market Watch
