00:00 Speaker A
Now for the latest comments from the Federal Reserve, let’s bring in Yahoo Finance, Federal Reserve correspondent, Jen Schonberger. Jennifer, what are you hearing today from the Fed?
00:08 Jennifer Schonberger
Good afternoon, Julie. Today we heard from Fed Governor Adriana Kugler, who says she favors holding interest rates steady for quote some time as economic data as of late has shown signs of softening and progress on inflation slows. In a speech today in Washington, she said quote, the Fed can react to new developments by holding at the current rate for some time as we closely monitor incoming data and the cumulative effects of new policies. This as just last Wednesday the Fed opted to hold interest rates steady at 4 and a quarter to 4 and a half percent for the second meeting in a row and maintained a prior prediction for two rate cuts at some point this year. Now Kugler’s comments come just after President Trump on Monday said he’d like to see the Fed lower interest rates saying quote, that’s just my opinion because things are coming down. We have inflation under control, tremendous amounts of money will soon be coming from tariffs. He also stressed that grocery and energy prices are coming down. Kugler is paying close attention to inflation amid an increase in consumer expectations for prices in the short term because of Trump’s tariffs. The conference board reported today that consumer inflation expectations for the year ahead now stand at 6.2%, up from just 5.8% last month. Now Kugler highlighted that prices of goods have started to rise again after falling over the past year, which she says is unhelpful because it helped keep a lid on overall inflation and impacts inflation expectations. Kugler also noted she’s seeing some signs of softness in economic data, specifically pointing to recent retail sales numbers as well as a slowdown in the pace of hiring in the first two months of this year. Now guys, on Wednesday we will get fresh new comments from the head of the St. Louis Fed, Alberto Musalam, followed by comments on Thursday from Boston Fed President Susan Collins and Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin. Back to you.
03:32 Speaker A
And we will be taking all the hints we can get. Thank you, Jen, appreciate it.
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