While core inflation has also run consistently below 2 percent in recent years, it has been gradually rising, with the most recent 12-month reading at 1.7 percent, three-tenths higher than a year ago (the black line in figure 1).
That is broadly true of surveys of households, businesses, and forecasters, and of market-based measures as well. But that is not grounds for complacency, with inflation having run well above our goal for some time. If the public expects that inflation will remain low and stable over time, then, absent major shocks, it likely will.