Inflation is core to the Fed’s mission. The central bank has a dual mandate of spurring full employment and keeping prices stable. This market’s forecast for inflation is below the Fed’s target for inflation of 2 percent.

Critics of measures like the one above say it’s too sensitive to short-term moves in markets such as oil (and, indeed, the most recent pullback in inflation expectations has corresponded with the tumble in oil prices over the past nine weeks).

Still, the recent slide in the expectations is an indication that investors have grown more concerned about global growth and less worried that the United States’ economy will overheat and cause a jump in inflation.

The Fed has pressed ahead with rate increases this year as the economy has strengthened. Already, the central bank has raised its main policy rate three times and is expected to do so again next month.

But in recent weeks, Fed officials also have appeared to soften their tone about future rate increases. On Wednesday, stocks surged after remarks by the central bank’s chairman, Jerome H. Powell, were interpreted by investors to suggest the Fed could be nearing the end of its push to lift interest rates.