US Expected Inflation at 6.6% Over Next Year... Record High Again in Two Months

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] Inflation expectations among U.S. consumers for the next year have once again reached an all-time high.

The New York Federal Reserve Bank (NY Fed) announced on the 13th (local time) that the expected inflation rate for the next year, according to the May consumer outlook survey, was 6.6%. This is a 0.3 percentage point increase from 6.3% in April. It matches the record high set in March since the survey began in June 2013.

By item, gasoline prices are expected to rise by 5.5% over the next year. The expected increase rate for housing costs rose from 5.8% in April to 6.0% in May. The 3-year expected inflation rate remained unchanged at 3.9% from the previous month.

This draws even more attention as it comes right after the recent U.S. May Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate hit 8.6%, the highest since December 1981. There are expectations that the central bank, the Federal Reserve (Fed), may further strengthen its tightening measures to curb inflation.

Along with this, U.S. consumers are expected to increase spending despite the inflation burden. In this survey, the outlook for household spending over the next year rose by 9.0%. This is 1.0 percentage point higher than the previous month (8.0%). The household spending outlook also recorded an all-time high since 2013.

High inflation indicators leading to tightening are expected to worsen the employment market. The percentage of respondents worried about unemployment over the next year rose by 0.3 percentage points to 11.1% from the previous month. This is the highest figure since January this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.