US inflation remains ‘uncomfortably’ high: Fed official

WASHINGTON (AFP): U.S. inflation remains “uncomfortably” above the target of the Federal Reserve (Fed) despite the progress it has seen in recent months, a senior bank official said Saturday.

The U.S. central bank has held interest rates at a two-decade high for the past year as it battles to return inflation to its long-term target of 2% following a pandemic-era surge in prices.

The Fed’s favored inflation gauge now sits at an annual rate of just 2.5% – well below the peak reached in 2022 – while the U.S. economy is still growing and the labor market has weakened somewhat.

Against this backdrop, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested in late July that the bank could move ahead with its first interest rate cut as soon as September – if economic data continues to come in as expected.

But some Fed officials have been more cautious about signaling rate cuts than others.

“The progress in lowering inflation during May and June is a welcome development,” Fed governor Michelle Bowman told a conference in Colorado Springs, according to prepared remarks. “But inflation is still uncomfortably above the committee’s 2% goal.”

Despite “upside risks,” Bowman said she still expects inflation to ease in the coming months, but warned policymakers to remain patient “and avoid undermining continued progress on lowering inflation by overreacting to a single data point.”

“I will remain cautious in my approach to considering adjustments to the current stance of policy,” she added.

The remarks from Bowman, who is a permanent voting member of the Fed’s rate-setting committee, suggest she remains concerned about cutting interest rates too soon – despite overwhelming support for a September rate cut in the financial markets.

Futures traders are now wholly convinced that the Fed will cut interest rates at its next meeting in September, and are instead split over how big its first cut will be, according to data from CME Group.