Suppose that for several consecutive quarters, a country's observed inflation rate is consistently lower than the inflation rate that was expected by firms and workers. Given that the actual inflation rate is the sum of the expected inflation rate and the bargaining gap, what is the most likely economic condition this situation reveals?

Economic Analysis of Inflation Data

Inflation Calculation and Interpretation

According to the relationship where the current inflation rate is the sum of the expected inflation rate and the bargaining gap, if the bargaining gap in an economy is zero for a given year, the actual inflation rate for that year must also be zero.