Fed Chair Powell sees ‘bumpy’ path for inflation returning to target

At the University of Chicago’s Monetary Policy Forum, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in prepared remarks: “Despite elevated levels of uncertainty, the U.S. economy continues to be in a good place. The labor market is solid, and inflation has moved closer to our 2 percent longer-run goal. At the Federal Reserve, we are intently focused on the dual-mandate goals given to us by Congress: maximum employment and stable prices…Inflation has come down a long way from its mid-2022 peak above 7 percent without a sharp increase in unemployment-a historically unusual and most welcome outcome. While progress in reducing inflation has been broad based, recent readings remain somewhat above our 2 percent objective. The path to sustainably returning inflation to our target has been bumpy, and we expect that to continue.”