Federal Reserve officials are offering a delicate message about the post-pandemic economy: expect prices to rise, but not to the point of runaway inflation.

“I don't expect inflation to be a problem, in part because I think the Fed will take care of it if it does become a problem,” Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said in a webinar Wednesday.

Rosengren, along with other Fed officials, have said in recent weeks that a snapback in economic activity could push prices up — but only moderately.

Kansas City Fed President Esther George said Tuesday that air travel and restaurant prices could rise as the vaccine brings back normal economic activity.

And in Texas, Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan pointed to firmer gasoline prices and temporary issues in the supply chains for semiconductors, wood products, metals and packaging products.

At the same time, the Fed is also emphasizing that if inflation tips above the Fed’s 2% target, the elevated levels are likely to come from temporary effects.

“I think the jury's out on how much of this inflation pressure is going to be persistent,” Kaplan told Yahoo Finance on Feb 12.

[Read the full transcript here.]

Another source of possible inflation: the “base effects” from how inflation is measured. The Fed looks at changes in prices in a year-over-year format. Data for March and April could therefore reflect large price “increases” because they are being compared against a March and April in 2020 that saw massive price drops.

“That’s a transient thing that we think will pass,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Jan. 27.

For now, inflation remains muted with the most recent read on core personal consumption expenditures (the Fed’s preferred measure) clocking in at 1.5% year-over-year.

‘Transitory’

Fedspeak has pointed to a revival of the word “transitory” in describing inflationary pressures, the same word deployed by the Fed in 2017 under then-Fed Chair Janet Yellen.

At the time, the Fed was downplaying inflationary forces in the opposite direction. Core PCE had dipped to 1.5% in August of that year, which Yellen chalked up to “idiosyncratic” factors like decreases in cellphone plans and prescription drugs.

Yellen’s use of the word “transitory” was a cover for preserving the central bank’s credibility on achieving its 2% target, which the central bank has persistently undershot since adopting the target in 2012.

Powell may redeploy the word to describe upward inflationary pressure that could be on the way.

“The Fed has made it abundantly clear that it is willing to look past any transitory inflationary forces in an almost ‘prove it’ mentality for steady inflation above its 2% average target as the Fed emphasizes full employment,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist for LPL Financial.

For the Fed, the priority is reassuring investors that high inflation readings are not signaling a return of 1970s era price surges. By talking them down, the Fed hopes to stabilize inflation expectations over the future, which is a major driver of consumption and pricing decisions in the present.

Survey-based measures like the New York Fed’s show median expected inflation rising in both the one-year and three-year time horizons. Market-based measures like the breakeven rate on 10-year TIPS also imply higher expectations for inflation over the long-term.

If inflationary pressures rise too much, Powell has said "we have tools for that," likely hinting at the ability to lever interest rates.

The Fed’s next policy-setting meeting is set to take place March 16 and 17.

Brian Cheung is a reporter covering the Fed, economics, and banking for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter @bcheungz.

• Dallas Fed's Kaplan: Central bank needs to be 'humble' on judging inflation

• NYC Chinatown's entrepreneurs turn to Zoom, TikTok to battle COVID-19 pandemic

• Powell: Fed 'will not tighten' policy until low-income workers recover

• Less-educated Asian Americans among hardest hit by job losses during pandemic

• A glossary of the Federal Reserve's full arsenal of 'bazookas'

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit.