Current:Home > StocksFed’s Waller: Interest rates are likely high enough to bring inflation back to 2% target -ClearPath Finance
Fed’s Waller: Interest rates are likely high enough to bring inflation back to 2% target
View
Date:2025-04-19 03:56:29
WASHINGTON (AP) — A key Federal Reserve official said Tuesday that he is “increasingly confident” that the Fed’s interest rate policies will succeed in bringing inflation back to the central bank’s 2% target level.
The official, Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors, cautioned that inflation is still too high and that it’s not yet certain if a recent slowdown in price increases can be sustained. But he sounded the most optimistic notes of any Fed official since the central bank launched its aggressive streak of rate hikes in March 2022, and he signaled that the central bank is likely done raising rates.
“I am increasingly confident that policy is currently well-positioned to slow the economy and get inflation back to 2%,” Waller said in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank.
Waller’s remarks follow Chair Jerome Powell’s more cautious comments earlier this month, when Powell said “we are not confident” that the Fed’s key short-term interest rate was high enough to fully defeat inflation. The Fed has raised its rate 11 times in the past year and a half to about 5.4%, the highest level in 22 years.
Inflation, measured year over year, has plunged from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022 to 3.2% in October. Waller said October’s inflation report, which showed prices were flat from September to October, “was what I want to see.”
Waller noted that recent data on hiring, consumer spending, and business investment suggested that economic growth was cooling from its torrid 4.9% annual pace in the July-September quarter. Slower spending and hiring, he said, should help further cool inflation.
Last month’s figures “are consistent with the kind of moderating demand and easing price pressure that will help move inflation back to 2%, and I will be looking to see that confirmed in upcoming data releases,” Waller said.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- Police remove gator from pool in North Carolina town: Watch video of 'arrest'
- Slain nurse's murder investigation uncovers her killer's criminal past, web of lies
- Cryptocurrency is making lots of noise, literally
- Horoscopes Today, April 13, 2024
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
- Rep. McCaul says decision on Ukraine aid vote is a speaker determination
- Pregnant Jenna Dewan Seeking Millions From Ex Channing Tatum’s Magic Mike Income
- Surprise! Gwen Stefani, No Doubt team up with Olivia Rodrigo at Coachella on 'Bathwater'
- British golfer Charley Hull blames injury, not lack of cigarettes, for poor Olympic start
- Are you a better parent than your mom or dad? My son's question sent me into a spiral.
Ranking
- Boy who wandered away from his 5th birthday party found dead in canal, police say
- 'Fortieth means I'm old:' Verne Lundquist reflects on final Masters call after 40 years
- Jill Duggar Dillard, Derick Dillard reveal stillbirth of daughter Isla Marie in emotional post
- 2 officers, suspect killed in shootout in Syracuse, New York, suburb, authorities say
- Tony Hawk drops in on Paris skateboarding and pushes for more styles of sport in LA 2028
- See the fans of Coachella Weekend 1 in photos including Taylor Swift and Paris Hilton
- Critics call out plastics industry over fraud of plastic recycling
- The best (and worst) moments of Coachella Day 2, from No Doubt's reunion to T-Pain's line
Recommendation
Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
Scottie Scheffler, Masters leaders have up-and-down day while Tiger Woods falters
From Stanley cups to Samsung phones, this duo launches almost anything into space. Here’s why.
Kobe Bryant's widow, Vanessa, gifts sneakers to Los Angeles Dodgers
Tony Hawk drops in on Paris skateboarding and pushes for more styles of sport in LA 2028
Here's the maximum Social Security benefit you can collect if you're retiring at 70 this year
Opioid settlement cash being used for existing programs and salaries, sparking complaints
Stock market today: Asian stocks track Wall Street’s decline as Middle East tensions escalate