Increases in home equity lines of credit remained rapid at nearly 4 percent but were below the remarkable 10 percent increases seen in the second and third quarters of last year. We understand that much of the construction lending has been for residential construction, consistent with the very strong housing market.
Their relatively high inflation expectations may be due to a persistent supply shortage in foods, beverages, and energy. On the whole, the inflation-targeting economies appear to have succeeded in anchoring their inflation expectations. These results suggest that inflation tends to converge to the long-term inflation expectation level, so that any deviations from the target range are not sustained.