U.S. consumers are in the midst of one of the longest stretches of elevated inflation of the past century. Some are beginning to act like it's a new normal, raising alarm bells for members of the Federal Reserve.
Wednesday's consumer price index release showed a 3.7% increase year over year in September. CPI has now registered around 65 months — that's more than five years — of consecutive annual readings above 2%, a widely accepted target for inflation in the U.S.
This yearslong spell of high inflation has cast a dark cloud over everyday Americans' view of the economy, and could shape everything from how they budget to how they vote in next month's midterm elections. At the Fed, leaders are left questioning whether consumers' inflationary expectations are becoming too entrenched to rein in.
"They're starting to accept high inflation as just a fact of life," Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack wrote in a social media post last week. "That's concerning."
The current streak of stubborn inflation ranks among the most persistent in modern U.S. history.