St. Louis FED President James Bullard shared that “inflation is more persistent than many have thought”.
In a recent interview, the head of the Fed in St. Louis shared his concerns with inflation.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said that high readings on inflation still concern central bank officials, reinforcing the need for higher interest rates.
“Inflation is broader and more persistent than many have thought and the Fed will have to act in order to keep inflation under control and we’ve got a plan in place,” Bullard told Yahoo Finance in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday morning that prices in the United States rose by 8.3% between April of this year and April of last year. That yearly pace of growth in the Consumer Price Index is a tick down from the 8.5% pace observed in March, but Bullard emphasized that more action from the Fed will be needed to further push inflation down.
The Fed is in the process of withdrawing its pandemic-era monetary support from the economy. The main focal point of that effort: raising interest rates from the near-zero level it slashed borrowing costs to in 2020.
Inflatuon under Biden is at 40 to 50-year highs or at all-time highs depending on the measurement. These measurements appear to be understated as well when Midwesterners compare the price of food today to last year.