Is inflation rising as investors fear? 5 ways to keep track

A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. Stocks are surging on Wall Street as the market claws back some of its massive losses from last week. The Dow Jones industrials climbed 400 points. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. Stocks are surging on Wall Street as the market claws back some of its massive losses from last week. The Dow Jones industrials climbed 400 points. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

By Christopher Rugaber February 18, 2018 4 min read

After nearly a decade of being all but invisible, inflation – or the fear of it – is back.

Tentative signs have emerged that prices could accelerate in coming months. Pay raises may be picking up a bit. Commodities such as oil and aluminum have grown more expensive. Cellphone plans are likely to appear costlier.

The specter of high inflation has spooked many investors, who worry it would force up interest rates, making it costlier for consumers and businesses to borrow and weighing down corporate profits and ultimately the economy. Historically, fear of high inflation has led the Federal Reserve to step up its short-term interest rate increases.

It’s a big reason investors have dumped stocks and bonds in the past two weeks.

Yet for all the market turmoil, inflation for now remains quite low: Prices, excluding the volatile food and energy categories, have risen just 1.7 percent in the past year. That’s below the Fed’s target of 2 percent annual inflation.