Despite the decline in inflation rates, consumers remain concerned about high prices.

Although inflation has eased slightly, according to government data, consumers still express concern about the high prices they face every day.

When the US Federal Reserve meets for its next meeting, it is possible that the central bank will cut short-term interest rates by another 25 basis points. However, it is still unclear how aggressively the central bank will cut rates ahead of 2025.

William Emmons is an adjunct faculty member at the Olin School of Business at the University of Washington. He says what we’ve seen in the news doesn’t paint the full picture of what Americans face when it comes to their purchasing power.

“These headlines are just averages, that’s part of it,” he said. “Older consumers, those living in rural areas and young consumers living in cities have different consumption baskets.”

Emmons is a former economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He says that people who suffer from higher prices talk about it more, while people who in some cases benefit from lower prices may not hide this outrage as completely – to give a more truthful picture of what what is happening in the economy.

As the 2024 U.S. presidential election approaches, economists say there will be differences in how the U.S. economy will respond to each candidate’s policies.

Emmons says there are signals that the current economic policies of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump may be causing at least a slight inflationary bias in the US economy.