New data seems to suggest that high inflation could possibly be coming to an end — or, at the very least, slowing down. According to economists, it looks as if inflation will stay at the current high rate it is at, though it will slowly moderate in the near future. This means that households could potentially see inflation stop being a problem in the very near future — perhaps even in the next few weeks, if this theory pans out.
New data recently revealed that consumer prices rose by about 6.8% for the past 12 months ending in November. This is the highest it has been in about 39 years. So, while inflation will stay at this rate for the next few weeks or possibly months, it will soon also moderate. Economists do still believe that inflation will stay higher than it was before the pandemic, though. Because inflation will likely stay higher, the prices of goods may also stay higher than normal.
Of course, the actual lowering of good prices could also take a while, even if inflation does moderate in the near future. While inflation could moderate, this doesn’t directly impact the price of goods. Businesses are in charge of that, so it’s up to them to fully lower the price once inflation moderates.
Already, Americans have seen products and goods go down in price a bit in the past few weeks. For example, both gas and home heating has lowered in price recently after surging in price not too long ago. These are great indications of how inflation is rising or slowing down.
Economists believe that inflation could be moderating in the next few weeks and months because supply chain issues may not be as huge of a detriment to the worldwide economy as it has been for the past few months. When consumer demand for goods surged in 2021 as people began to become vaccinated, the global supply chain could not keep up, especially with restrictions and regulations still in place. As a result, bottlenecks and port clogs ensued rapidly and it became impossible to ship goods as previously done.
While many analysts worried that these global supply chain problems could be a cause for concern during the holiday shopping season — many were worried that consumers would have to deal with empty store shelves and low amounts of products to choose from — many large corporations and retailers were able to ensure that this didn’t happen. Now, as time has passed and money has gone to helping fix these clog ports and bottlenecks, analysts are optimistic that these global supply chain problems will cease to be such massive issues.
This will only help with inflation massively. Plus, as consumers are able to purchase computer chips and other materials at ease once again, this should put an ease on inflation.
However, it could take some time to finally see inflation moderate, when it comes to the price of goods. Consumers could very well see this change in the next few weeks, though, if analysts are correct. According to economists, consumers will first be able to realize that inflation is changing by looking at energy costs, such as how much it costs to put gas in your car, as well as how much it cost to heat up your house.
