Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said policymakers can return US inflation to their goal without need to raise interest rates further.
“This is going to be something that is going to take some time,” Bostic said Friday. “I think we will get to our 2% target without us having to do anything more.”
The Atlanta Fed chief said while consumers — the key drivers of the US economy — are still spending, there are some signs that things are slowing down.
“Labor markets are easing, pressures on wages are easing,” and business contacts say “we are starting to get back to that balance” of supply and demand for workers, Bostic said.
Fed officials are trying to determine if they should keep raising interest rates after electing to leave the central bank’s benchmark unchanged at their last two policy meetings. It’s currently in a range of 5.25% to 5.5%, the highest level in 22 years, after commencing the most aggressive tightening cycle in a generation last year.
