Trend inflation and implications for the Phillips Curve

This Economic Commentary estimates trend PCE inflation and a Phillips curve with time-varying parameters while allowing for trend inflation to affect the frequency at which firms change prices. Since the beginning of 2021, trend PCE inflation has risen well above the FOMC’s 2 percent long-term inflation target, and the most recent estimate of trend inflation in 2022:Q4 is 3.4 percent. With the increase in trend inflation, the Phillips curve slope has risen above its pre-pandemic level. At the same time, the relationship between current inflation and inflation expectations has strengthened. Together, these results imply that even though a slowing economy would help to bring down inflation through the steeper slope of the Phillips curve, high short-term inflation expectations could put upward pressure on inflation to a larger extent than they had prior to the pandemic.