Inflation concerns decline as Pulse (July 2026) surveys report high levels of price increase perception. Pulse Survey respondents reported a seven-point decline in “Very concerned” answers when asked how concerned they were that prices would increase in the next six months. The change is visible when survey answers from 2024 and July 2026 are compared. The decrease comes alongside a ten-percentage-point increase in the perception of rising prices, from 77% in 2024 to 87% in July 2026. There seems to be either a misalignment of perceptions or an easing of inflation expectations despite a broader acknowledgment of deteriorating pricing conditions.

The Pulse 2026 Survey shows the following answers to the question, “In the area you live and shop, how concerned are you, if at all, that prices will increase in the next 6 months?”: 46% of valid responses read “Very concerned,” while “Somewhat concerned” stands at 26%. The top answers combined yield 75% concerned for 2024 versus 72% for 2026. The following charts (Number 1 and Number 2) depict the answers provided in the data.

The question, “In the area you live and shop, how concerned are you, if at all, that prices will increase in the next 6 months?” resembles a forward-looking expectation of inflation. Although the language prevents a direct equivalence to “Do you think prices will continue to rise in the next 6 months?”, the question gets analysts close to such an interpretation. That is, for the sake of analysis, the question could be understood as expected inflation for survey respondents. Therefore, if we are allowed to treat concerns as expected inflation, we may conclude that expectations about prices have declined among survey respondents.

Interpreting concerns as expected inflation brings a challenge insofar as the acknowledgment of price increases is widening among the population. A naive intuition on inflation behavior may suggest that as things get more expensive, it is sound to expect prices will get even more expensive in the next six months. However, we do not see that in the data. Survey respondents in 2024 reported a 77% acknowledgment of price increases, while 87% did so in 2026. This fact does not support the naive intuition. Therefore, equating concerns to expectations leads us to conclude that even though inflation continues to rise, people are adjusting accordingly to the extent that inflation is not expected to be a big issue six months from July.

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