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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell vowed on Friday that the central bank remains committed to returning the economy to a stable rate of inflation.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, year-over-year inflation reached 8.5% in July 2022, with a slight moderation from the 9.1% reading in the previous month driven by lower energy prices — even as costs for food, new vehicles, medical care, and shelter continue to rise. Powell said that the Federal Reserve still intends to reduce inflation to 2% — the rate largely maintained by policymakers for the past three decades.
“Price stability is the responsibility of the Federal Reserve and serves as the bedrock of our economy,” Powell said in a speech delivered at the central bank’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “Without price stability, the economy does not work for anyone. In particular, without price stability, we will not achieve a sustained period of strong labor market conditions that benefit all. The burdens of high inflation fall heaviest on those who are least able to bear them.”
According to the Joint Committee on Taxation’s State Inflation Tracker — which uses January 2021 as a benchmark month — rising price levels cost the typical American household $717 in July 2022 alone. Even if prices stop increasing altogether, inflation will cost Americans $8,607 from August 2022 through July 2023.
