“More recent data show solid growth and continued strength in the labor market but also a lack of further progress so far this year on returning to our 2 percent inflation goal,” Powell said at the Washington Forum on the Canadian Economy.
“The recent data have clearly not given us greater confidence and instead indicate that it’s likely to take longer than expected to achieve that confidence,” he also said.
His comments come as inflation has been creeping up in recent months, despite the Fed hiking interest rates over the past two years. Recent data showed inflation reached 3.5 percent year-over-year.
President Biden recently predicted the Fed might have to delay cutting rates amid the inflation news.
“This may delay it a month or so, I’m not sure of that. We don’t know what the Fed is going to do for certain,” Biden said.
“But look, we have dramatically reduced inflation from 9 percent down to close to 3 percent,” he added. “We’re in a situation where we’re better situated than we were when we took office, where inflation was skyrocketing.”
The Hill’s Julia Shapero takes it away here.
