Inflation has risen in many countries. In conjunction with a rebound in GDP growth and evidence of significant bottlenecks in some sectors, this has prompted concerns that the low inflation era of recent decades could be nearing its end. A closer look at the data reveals that the pickup in inflation can be ascribed largely to base effects, increases in the prices of a small number of pandemic-affected items and higher energy prices. A common thread through these causes is that their effect on inflation is likely to be temporary. A more persistent increase in inflation would likely require a material pickup in labour costs and an unmooring of inflation expectations. However, wage growth remains contained and the medium-term inflation expectations of professional forecasters and financial markets show little sign of de-anchoring. These developments are consistent with medium-term inflation moving towards central bank targets.
