"We will need to resist the temptation to act quickly when patience is needed and be prepared to respond agilely as the economy evolves," Daly said in remarks prepared for delivery to the National Association for Business Economics. Inflation declined rapidly last year, from 5.5% in January to 2.6% in December by the Fed's targeted measure of the personal consumption expenditures price index. Unemployment, meanwhile, was 3.7% last month, up just three tenths of a percentage point from the start of the year.
Inflation was a bit hotter than expected in January, as consumer prices rose 3.1% on an annual basis, according to Labor Department data released Tuesday. Analysts had been forecasting a 2.9% pace, but housing and food costs helped push the overall consumer price index up more than expected. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.3%, versus expectations of 0.2%. Housing costs accounted for more than two-thirds of the increase. The consumer price index has now increased by 3% or more on an annual basi
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said a hotter-than-expected reading on consumer prices doesn't mean the central bank won't be able to cut interest rates in 2024.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Hotter-than-expected inflation in January shows that the United States' path back to 2% inflation "may be a bumpy one," Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr said on Wednesday, adding it was too early to be assured price stability will be restored without a significant blow to jobs or economic growth. "It's very early to say whether we end up with a soft landing or not," Barr said, referring to the Fed's hoped-for outcome where inflation returns to the Fed's target without a large rise in the unemployment rate. "I'd be very careful about where we are in that process," with the Fed facing a "difficult" decision on how long to maintain the target rate of interest at the current 5.25% to 5.5% range, Barr said at a National Association for Business Economics conference.