1 March 2024
Loretta Mester, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, acknowledged in a Yahoo Finance interview that recent inflation data indicates the Federal Reserve still has significant efforts ahead to mitigate price pressures. Despite this, Mester remains optimistic about the Fed’s ability to achieve its 2% inflation target over time and anticipates the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates three times this year. The latest data reveals a 0.4% increase in the Fed’s preferred inflation measure in January, marking the quickest rise since early 2023. This uptick suggests that the cooling of inflation might not proceed as rapidly as last year, attributed to earlier improvements in supply chains and workforce expansion.