The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland published third-quarter 2026 results from its Survey of Firms’ Inflation Expectations, showing that US business leaders expect the Consumer Price Index to rise 3.3% over the next 12 months. The July forecast was down from 3.7% in the second-quarter survey conducted in April. The quarterly survey covers a large, representative panel of manufacturing and services firms and gathers responses from CEOs and other senior executives. The Cleveland Fed tracks these expectations because they can influence the prices firms charge and, in turn, the path of inflation.