United States Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester asserted on Thursday that the recent economic reports haven't given her "greater confidence" that inflation is moving sustainably toward the 2% target.
Speaking at the Wayne Economic Development Council Briefings for Business event, she mentioned that although the tick down in the April inflation is welcome, the figures were "higher than those we saw in the second half of last year." She remarked that the lack of progress on inflation in 2024 has been "disappointing." Nonetheless, she added that it is too early to say "that progress on inflation has stalled out or that inflation is poised to reverse course." Mester shared that she now believes it will take the Fed longer to hit its 2% goal than she previously thought.
However, as the country's economy is well-positioned, this allows the Fed "to accumulate data without concern that monetary policy is overly restrictive," she argued.
