May data for the US show higher inflation from March through May. Between January and May 2026, prices for US consumers grew at an annualized rate of 5.5%. This is a much higher rate than the 2.6% annual growth in prices for US consumers in 2025. Recent inflation increases reflect a sharp increase in global energy prices: consumer energy prices were 23% higher in May 2026 than they were a year earlier. California data tell a similar story: between December 2025 and April 2026, California consumer prices grew at a 4.5% annual rate. Consumers do not expect increased inflation to last: unlike in early 2025, consumer expectations about inflation in the next five years increased only moderately in early 2026.
Based on the most recent economic data, we now estimate that annual inflation will drop to about 4 percent by the second quarter of 2023.
We discuss our new economic outlook, released as part of our response to the Governor's 2017 May Revision.
We discuss the state's economic outlook, including the administration's assessment of the near-term economic outlook in the Governor's May Revision to his 2016-17 budget proposal.
A spike in gas prices contributed to Los Angeles-area consumer prices rising substantially faster than the nation as a whole in July, according to new federal data.
Consumer price index (CPI) data for all of 2014 is now available.
Inflation in the U.S. economy was very low in late 2014, and further drops in prices are possible in early 2015. We discuss both the risks and benefits of low price growth.