The wave of inflation in the past few months is not expected to grow into an inflation tsunami of the kind that rocked the United States as it emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inflation crested at nearly 9% in June 2022 under then-President Joe Biden — the worst in generations — but has generally fallen since, and dipped to near the Federal Reserve’s 2% target at the start of this year. Since the war in Iran, it has shot back up to 4.2%, leading some to wonder if the worst is yet to come, or even if the U.S. could suffer a second round of even worse inflation, as happened in the late 1970s.