Perhaps you have noticed the high prices of gasoline or travel costs recently.

Inflation in our country is at its highest point since 2008 as prices, specifically, in travel are the highest they have been in quite some time.

Currently, the consumer price index (CPI) is 5.4% higher than it was at the beginning of the year, and core inflation, excluding volatile prices in oil and gas, is 4.5% higher.

But many economists and experts agree they think the current rise in prices will be short-lived.

“It is not looking to be like inflation that’s really broad-based and has a lot of momentum. I think it’s going to burn itself out relatively soon,” said Josh Bevins, research director at the Economic Policy Institute.

Bevins says one of the reasons inflation is so high at the moment is due to the quick rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic when prices and the economy were at their lowest in decades.

When comparing current prices to those during the pandemic, it will look much more drastic than the current reality, he says.

“You only have bottlenecks if demand is really strong,” said Bevins. “It is a good thing that a lot of people want to do that travel that they couldn’t do for the last year. It means that they’re feeling economically secure enough to do it.”

The price index, or where prices are across the board, is roughly the same as where it was before the pandemic, says Bevins.

Many prices are inflated due to the quick rebound in demand as supply shortages still affect the market.

Take air travel, for example. Many plane cabins reduced capacity during COVID, so the prices we are currently seeing are factored into that decrease.

It's the same with rental cars. Because few people were traveling, many companies sold off their fleets, leaving the supply low as the demand for them is rebounding.

Factor in shortages in auto-manufacturing and it is only exacerbating the problem.

“I do think this is temporary, and I think inflation will settle down by the end of this year,” said Bevins.

WASHINGTON (AP) — American consumers faced a third straight monthly surge in prices in June, the latest evidence that a rapid reopening of the economy is fueling pent-up spending for goods and services that in many cases remain in short supply.

Tuesday’s report from the Labor Department showed that consumer prices in June rose 0.9% from May and 5.4% over the past year — the sharpest 12-month inflation spike since June 2008.

Excluding volatile oil and gas prices, so-called core inflation rose 4.5% in the past year, the largest increase since November 1991.

The pickup in inflation, which has coincided with the economy’s rapid recovery from the pandemic recession, has heightened concerns that the Federal Reserve might feel compelled to begin withdrawing its low-interest rate policies earlier than expected.

If so, that would risk weakening the economy and potentially derailing the recovery. Fed officials have repeatedly said, though, that they regard the surge in inflation as a temporary response to supply shortages and other short-term disruptions as the economy quickly bounces back.