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Chair Jerome Powell noted that inflation has cooled considerably but it’s “still too high, ongoing progress in bringing it down is not assured and the path forward is uncertain.”
Compared with a year ago, prices are up 3.1%. That is less than the 3.4% figure in December and far below the 9.1% inflation peak in mid-2022.
After an extended period of gloom, Americans are starting to feel better about inflation and the economy — a trend that could sustain consumer spending and fuel economic growth.
U.S. businesses and other employers added a healthy 199,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell, fresh signs that the economy could achieve an elusive “soft landing.”
It’s a sign that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes are continuing to cool the price spikes that have bedeviled consumers for the past two years.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell the economy is growing faster than the Fed had expected and could continue to keep inflation elevated.
The robust gain suggests that many companies remain confident enough to keep hiring despite high interest rates and a hazy outlook for the economy.
Fed policymakers made clear that they aren’t close to declaring victory over the worst bout of inflation in 40 years.
The move lifted the Fed’s benchmark short-term rate from roughly 5.1% to 5.3% — its highest level since 2001.
Inflation has reached its lowest point in more than two years thanks in part to easing prices for gasoline, airline fares, used cars and groceries.
The latest evidence of economic strength, with no sign of recession, makes it all but certain that the Fed will resume its interest rate hikes this month.
What might be the most-anticipated recession in modern U.S. history still hasn’t arrived.
Top Fed officials want to take time to more fully assess how their rate hikes have affected inflation and the economy.
Consumer prices in the United States cooled last month, rising just 0.1% from April to May and extending the past year’s steady easing of inflation. At the same time, some measures of underlying price pressures remained high.
Many industries, from construction to restaurants to health care, are still adding jobs to keep up with consumer demand and restore their workforces to pre-pandemic levels.