Top Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday welcomed fresh data showing consumer price inflation cooled last month, but said they would need more such readings to feel confident that price pressures are truly easing.
Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh’s Testimony
Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said in testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, ‘While I reviewed the data that came out this morning on CPI, and it was positive relative to expectations, I’m not for cherry-picking; I’m not going to show up here and say ‘mission accomplished,”. Warsh added, ‘What I’d say is there’s plenty of work to do, and I would feel more confident if we had better data to inform our decision-making,’.
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee was equally reticent to say what the inflation data, which showed CPI rose 3.5% in the 12 months through June compared to 4.2% in May, meant for the upcoming policy rate decision. Goolsbee told the Kenosha Area Business Alliance in Kenosha, Wisconsin, ‘I’m heartened by this CPI (data) today, but we need a lot more than one month to think that it is going well,’.
Next Steps
A fuller picture of inflation in June will emerge on Wednesday when the government publishes its Producer Price Index, a gauge of wholesale inflation. With that data in hand, the Fed, financial analysts and investors will have most of what they need to estimate the June reading for the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, which the central bank uses to gauge progress toward its 2% inflation goal.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
