Fed Household Survey Finds That Inflation Remains a Challenge

Inflation remains a challenge for most U.S. households, the Federal Reserve Board said Tuesday in issuing its Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2023 report. Overall, the report shows that financial well-being was nearly unchanged from 2022.

The report draws from the Board’s 11th annual Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), which was fielded in October 2023. It analyzes topics including financial well-being, income, employment, expenses, banking and credit, housing, higher education and student loans, and retirement and investments.

Despite the moderating pace of inflation, 65% of adults said that changes in the prices they paid compared with the prior year had made their financial situation worse in 2023. That included 19% who said price changes made their financial situation much worse.

“The SHED provides valuable insight into the financial conditions of American households,” said Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle W. Bowman. “This perspective continues to help the Federal Reserve better understand how families are coping with the ongoing economic challenges they face.”

Connect

Inside The Story

Federal Reserve

About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 16-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 7-10 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

Order Reprints