The risks to our forecast that CPI inflation will rise from 1.5% in April to a peak of 2.6% in November before dropping back in 2022 are increasingly on the upside. Rises in shipping costs and global agricultural commodity prices as well as shortages of semiconductors and labour could all conspire to push CPI inflation higher this year and keep it above 2% next year. At the moment, though, we think that the lingering effects of last year’s collapse in output will prompt many firms to absorb the bulk of higher costs in their margins and to limit pay rather than pass them on to consumers via much higher prices. This “spare capacity” effect explains why we think core inflation will stay below 2% until late in 2023.
Become a client to read more
This is premium content that requires an active Capital Economics subscription to view.
Already have an account?
You may already have access to this premium content as part of a paid subscription.
Sign in to read the content in full or get details of how you can access it
Register for free
Sign up for a free account to:
- Unlock additional content
- Register for Capital Economics events
- Receive email updates and economist-curated newsletters
- Request a free trial of our services