Federal Reserve Prepared to Hike Rates Higher

The Federal Reserve should be prepared to raise rates further because inflation remains too high and the labor market too tight, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said in a speech Friday.

Bowman added that recent data on inflation, which many economists saw as paving the way for the Fed to halt interest rate hikes, has not provided evidence that inflation is receding.

“In my view, the most recent CPI and employment reports have not provided consistent evidence that inflation is on a downward path, and I will continue to closely monitor the incoming data as I consider the appropriate stance of monetary policy going into our June meeting,” Bowman said at a European Central Bank conference in Frankfurt. “Should inflation remain high and the labor market remain tight, additional monetary policy tightening will likely be appropriate to attain a sufficiently restrictive stance of monetary policy to lower inflation over time.”

Markets have been pricing in a series of rate cuts after a brief pause this summer. Bowman’s remarks appear designed to push the market off of this view by warning the central bank could resume hiking later this year.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases