(Reuters) – U.S. consumers’ inflation expectations rose for a second straight month in November despite growing signs that price increases are in fact slowing, a survey released Wednesday showed.
American households see inflation accelerating to 4.5% over the next year, up from 4.2% in October and from 3.2% in September, the University of Michigan’s twice-monthly survey of consumer sentiment showed. That is the highest rate since April.
Over a five-year horizon, consumers now see inflation running at 3.2% on average, up from 3.0% in October and 2.8% in September. That is the highest since a matching reading of 3.2% in 2011. Households’ long-term inflation outlook has not been higher than that since 2008 when it reached 3.4% as the financial crisis was beginning to unfold.
“These expectations have risen in spite of the fact that consumers have taken note of the continued slowdown in inflation,” survey Director Joanne Hsu said in a statement. “Consumers appear worried that the softening of inflation could reverse in the months and years ahead.”
(Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
