Fed's Bowman Supports More Rate Increases To Overcome Inflation!

<p>&nbsp;Additional interest rate hikes will likely be needed to bring inflation down to the 2% target by the US Federal Reserve, Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said on Monday.</p><p><br /></p><p>In a speech prepared to be delivered at the "Fed Listens" event in Atlanta that largely repeated comments he made to a banking group on Saturday, he said he supported the latest rate hike last month because inflation was still too high, and job growth and indicators other activities show the economy continues to grow at a "moderate" rate.</p><p><br /></p><p>"With this development, I support an increase in the federal funds rate at our July meeting, and I expect that additional increases may be needed to bring inflation down to the Federal Open Market Committee's target," he said.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>"I will be looking for evidence that inflation is following a consistent and meaningful downward path as I consider whether additional increases in the federal funds rate are needed, and how long the federal funds rate needs to remain at an adequate level," Bowman said.</p><p><br /></p><p>At the end of last month, the Federal Reserve raised its base short-term interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 5.25% to 5.50%. Investors generally believe that will prove to be the last hike in a campaign launched by the Reserve in March 2022 to lower inflation from the highest levels in four decades, but US central bank officials stressed that it was too early to make that assessment.</p><p><br /></p><p>Officials will meet in September allowing them to review greater data on inflation, the job market, and the economy as a whole than they usually do from one meeting to the next.</p><p><br /></p><p>Recent data show inflation has slowed significantly in recent months, and on Friday, the Labor Department reported lower-than-expected job growth in July. Even so, the unemployment rate fell slightly and wage growth did not slow as expected and remained at a growth rate that Reserve officials saw as inconsistent with their 2% target.</p>