Supply-Chain Bottlenecks, Elevated Inflation to Last Well Into Next Year, Survey Finds
October 18, 2021 | District of Columbia
Uncomfortably high inflation will grip the U.S. economy well into 2022, as constrained supply chains keep upward pressure on prices and, increasingly, curb output, according to economists surveyed this month by The Wall Street Journal.
The economists’ inflation projections are up dramatically from July, while short-term growth outlooks are lower.
Economists on average see inflation at 5.25% in December, just slightly less than the rate that has prevailed since June. Assuming a similar level in October and November, that would mark the longest inflation has been above 5% since early 1991.
Consumer-price inflation will drop to 3.4% by June of next year, then 2.6% by the end of 2022, according to respondents’ average estimates. That is still above the average 1.8% that prevailed in the decade before the pandemic…. (Excerpts from Wall Street Journal)
