Inflation in the US is improving, the public mood is still sour

20 DAYS AGO

As families in the U.S. prepare to gather for their Thanksgiving dinners next week, food prices have largely flatlined for months, gasoline prices are about 10% lower than a year ago, and the average cost of much of what goes into a shopping cart has been roughly unchanged for a year. But the steady ebbing of inflation hasn't translated into good news for either President Joe Biden or the Federal Reserve when it comes to public opinion. Attitudes towards both have kept slipping in light of one unchanging fact: Stuff remains pricier than it was before the coronavirus pandemic, and will likely stay that way.

FILE PHOTO: The Federal Reserve building in Washington, U.S., January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File photo

FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller poses before a speech at the San Francisco Fed, in San Francisco, California, U.S., March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Ann Saphir/File Photo

FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook heads in to attend the opening dinner of the Kansas City Fed's annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, U.S., August 24, 2023. REUTERS/Ann Saphir/File Photo