Analysts believe more interest rate hikes are likely on the horizon.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has some bad news for President Joe Biden as he continues to tout his administration’s work in slashing inflation: There’s still a lot of work to be done.
Speaking at Jackson Hole Annual Symposium in Wyoming on Friday morning, Powell told attendees the Federal Reserve Board could be considering yet another interest rate hike at its upcoming September meeting, citing an economy that is continuing to burn red hot amid the Fed’s efforts to cool it down and avert a recession in 2024.
Despite a series of interest rate hikes intended to stall spending, Powell said Friday that the economy has continued to grow faster than analysts expected with high levels of spending, fueling inflation rates that were spurred on by high levels of government stimulus spending, the ongoing war in Ukraine and individual companies’ price hikes designed to protect quarterly profits.
And while he did not wholly commit to another rate hike next month, he was blunt in reiterating the Federal Reserve’s policy to hold the course until the current 3.2 percent inflation rate hits the Fed’s 2 percent target.
«We are attentive to signs that the economy may not be cooling as expected,» Powell said during his Friday speech.
