The Federal Reserve (the US central bank) has warned that the United States will face “widespread” inflationary pressures after statements by its chairman, Jerome Powell, that caused stock market turmoil.
It comes after Powell warned that the Federal Reserve was poised to accelerate the pace of interest rate hikes, pointing out that the authorities could deliberately raise interest rates more than expected if necessary.
And the Federal Reserve said today that its review of economic conditions in the United States indicates a slight to moderate increase in employment rates in most regions in which it has federal banks, while labor market conditions remain stable. since the Federal Reserve has 12 banks entrusted with the implementation of central bank monetary policy in 12 regions.
Overall economic activity edged up slightly year-on-year through Feb. 27 as data for six of the 12 Federal Reserve banks showed a slight pickup in activity. While the reports of the other six banks came down to a slight increase in this rate or stagnation.
Several Federal Reserve banks reported rising price inflation, with persistent inflationary pressures recorded in New York and “significant” increases in rental prices in Kansas City.
It is worth noting that inflation remains above the 2% level that the Federal Reserve aims for in the long term, despite monetary tightening, which has raised interest rates to levels not seen since the global financial crisis.
On Tuesday, Powell told a Senate hearing that the job market remains “very tight.”
Source: AFP