USA: Consumer Inflation Expectations Ease in May.

Median one-year-ahead inflation expectations in the US decreased to 3.5% in May 2026 from 3.6% in April which was the highest in a year. Price-growth expectations declined for gas (-0.1 percentage point to 5%), medical care (-0.7 percentage point to 8.9%) and college education (-0.8 percentage point to 8%). In contrast, consumers expect higher prices for home (+0.5 percentage point to 3.5%, the highest since July 2022), food (+0.6 percentage point to 5.8%) and rent (+1.4 percentage point to 7.4%). Meanwhile, inflation expectations were unchanged at 3.1% and 3% at the three-year and five-year-ahead horizons. Elsewhere, median one-year-ahead earnings growth expectations remained stable at 2.7% and nominal household spending growth expectations decreased by 0.4 percentage point to 5%. In addition, the mean unemployment expectations fell by 0.4 percentage point to 43.2%.