Inflation has been restrained, in part, by the margin of slack in labor and product markets that has persisted through much of this period. Another reason for this favorable outcome is that longer-term inflation expectations remain well contained.
For example, the median expected inflation rate during the next five to ten years, as reported in the University of Michigan's survey of consumers, has barely edged up in recent years, even as short-term inflation has been boosted by rising energy prices.