The Federal Reserve has not convinced Americans that it can bring inflation down in the first half of this year.
A poll released by Gallup on Wednesday showed that 79 percent of Americans think that inflation will go up, with half of Americans saying it will go up by a lot.
Just 10 percent say inflation will remain at the present elevated level and nine percent expect inflation to fall.
Gallup said this is the highest share of Americans expecting an increase in inflation since it began asking about the subject. Ordinarily, around six in ten Americans expect higher prices.
The Consumer Price Index showed prices in December were up seven percent from a year earlier. That is the highest year-over-year rise in prices in nearly three decades.
About half of Americans say that inflation is inflicting economic hardship on their household finances, although only nine percent describe this as severe hardship. But at the lower end of the income scale, inflation is hitting harder. Twenty percent of those earning $40,000 or less say inflation has severely harmed their finances and 46 percent say it has inflicted moderate hardship, for a total of 67 percent.
Additionally, 29 percent of Americans say the economy is getting better while 67 percent believe it is getting worse.
Americans are more confident about stocks. Forty-six percent say the stock market will go up, versus 29 percent who expect falling stocks.
The messages on jobs and economic growth were more mixed. Thirty-four percent expect more jobs six months from now and 43 percent expect fewer. Forty percent expect growth to pick up while 39 percent expect it will slow.
Seventy-eight percent said interest rates are going higher, an opinion that aligns with the Fed’s statement on Wednesday that it believes higher rates will soon be appropriate.