Falling Gas Prices Are Raising Hopes That Inflation Is Slowing, New York Fed Survey Shows

• Lower gas prices are raising optimism that inflation is on the decline, according to a survey Monday from the New York Federal Reserve. Respondents to the central bank’s August Survey of Consumer Expectations indicated they expect the annual inflation rate to be 5.7% a year from now. That’s a decline from 6.2% in July and the lowest level since October 2021.
• Three-year inflation expectations dropped to 2.8% in August from 3.2% the previous month. That was tied for the lowest level for that measure since November 2020.
• The lowered outlook came amid a tumble in gasoline prices from more than $5 a gallon earlier in the summer, a nominal record high. The current national average is about $3.71 a gallon, still well above the price from a year ago, but about a 26-cent decline from the same point in August.
• Those numbers come as the Fed is using a series of aggressive interest rate hikes to battle inflation that is still running close to a more than 40-year high. The central bank is widely expected to approve a third consecutive 0.75 percentage point increase when it meets again next week.

(Source: CNBC)