Financial CEO Says Inflation Could Go Up in 2026, Not Down
Written by
Chris Adam
Edited by
Jenna Klaverweiden
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It’s not the news most consumers want to hear: Inflation could go up as we continue through 2026. That’s the warning from one financial CEO.
While JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has acknowledged that possibility for inflation in 2026, not all experts agree. Here’s what Dimon and some other money experts are saying about inflation in 2026.
Dimon Points To the ‘Skunk’
In a shareholder letter, Dimon pointed to factors such as the Iran war, ongoing oil and commodity price shocks, and the reshaping of global supply chains. He wrote they “may lead to stickier inflation.”
In addition, he wrote, “The skunk at the party — and it could happen in 2026 — would be inflation slowly going up, as opposed to slowly going down.”
Other Experts Have Mixed Predictions
Melanie Musson, a finance expert with Quote.com, told GOBankingRates that inflation will likely increase in the short term in 2026, but, by the end of the year, it should be back to its current level.
“As the war continues, you can expect that inflation will rise,” she said. “It may surpass 4%. But it won’t take long after the war ends for inflation to settle back into the 3% range. Ideally, inflation would be under 3%, but we probably won’t get there in 2026.”
According to Andrew Lokenauth, founder of Fluent in Finance, inflation relief isn’t coming fast. He pointed to several factors pushing prices higher at the same time — lagged tariff effects, a federal deficit that could exceed 7% of GDP this year, a tighter labor market from immigration policy changes and inflation expectations that are drifting upward.
“In my 20 years in finance, I’ve seen how these pressures compound,” he explained. “Businesses raise prices to protect margins, workers push for higher wages and the cycle feeds itself. The combination of a tight labor market, strong consumer spending, tariff pass-through and lagged housing inflation is a recipe for sticky inflation that could stay closer to 3% or above through most of the year.”
Annie Cole, Ed.D., money coach and founder of Money Essentials for Women, echoed similar concerns and said inflation is likely to stay around 3% for most of 2026. “Tariffs are still working through the system, wages and service prices keep climbing and oil prices have been increasing, putting pressure on overall inflation,” Cole said.
Editor’s note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.
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