Fed’s Kashkari sees ‘more work to do’ on inflation
March 30, 2023 | Ann Saphir | Reuters
The Federal Reserve has “more work to do” to get inflation back down to its 2% goal, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said on Thursday, although he did not say specifically how much further he believes interest rates will need to rise to do the job.
“We’ve seen some real progress” from the Fed’s rate hikes so far, Kashkari said at a town hall event livestreamed on the regional Fed bank’s website, noting that the housing market has slowed, goods prices have fallen, and new leases are less expensive.
“The one area that is particularly concerning right now is that the services economy, outside of housing, has not shown any sign of slowing down,” he said. “Wage growth is still growing faster than what is consistent with our 2% inflation target; that tells me we still have more work to do to bring the services side of the economy back into balance… we know we have to get inflation down, and we will.”