Fed's Jerome Powell says strong economy could require rate hikes: 'Inflation is still too high'

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2 years ago

October 25, 2023

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The US economy’s strength and continued tight labor markets could warrant further Federal Reserve interest rate increases, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday in remarks that appeared to push back against market expectations that the central bank’s rate hikes had reached an end.

“We are attentive to recent data showing the resilience of economic growth and demand for labor. Additional evidence of persistently above-trend growth, or that tightness in the labor market is no longer easing, could put further progress on inflation at risk and could warrant further tightening of monetary policy,” Powell said in remarks to the Economic Club of New York.

For inflation to durably return to the Fed’s 2% target, it “is likely to require a period of below-trend growth and some further softening in labor market conditions,” Powell said.

Since the Fed began raising interest rates in March of 2022 the unemployment rate has varied little from the current 3.8%, below the level most Fed officials feel is noninflationary, and overall economic growth has generally remained above the 1.8% annual growth rate Fed officials see as the economy’s underlying potential.

The Fed is “proceeding carefully” in evaluating the need for any further rate increases, Powell said, likely leaving intact current expectations that the Fed will leave its benchmark policy rate steady at the current 5.25% to 5.5% range at the upcoming Oct. 31-Nov. 1 meeting.

There is evidence the labor market is cooling, Powell said, with some important measures approaching levels seen even before the pandemic.

Powell also noted a number of fresh “uncertainties and risks” that need to be accounted for as the Fed tries to balance the threat of allowing inflation to rekindle against the threat of leaning on the economy more than is necessary.

Those include new geopolitical risks to the economy from the “horrifying” attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant Hamas group, Powell said.

“Our institutional role at the Federal Reserve is to monitor these developments for their economic implications, which remain highly uncertain,” Powell said. “Speaking for myself, I found the attack on Israel horrifying, as is the prospect for more loss of innocent lives.”

He also noted recent market-driven increases in bond yields that have helped to “significantly” tighten overall financial conditions.

“Persistent changes in financial conditions can have implications for the path of monetary policy,” Powell said, with higher market-based interest rates, if sustained, doing the same job as Fed rate increases.

But the Fed chair also voiced what has become a lingering theme at the central bank: That despite steady progress on lowering inflation, the battle isn’t over, with further rate increases still a possibility and the duration of tight monetary conditions still to be determined.

“Inflation is still too high, and a few months of good data are only the beginning of what it will take to build confidence that inflation is moving down sustainably toward our goal,” Powell said, citing the progress made since inflation peaked last year but also noting that one of the Fed’s main measures of inflation remained at 3.7% through September, nearly twice the central bank’s target.

“We cannot yet know how long these lower readings will persist, or where inflation will settle over coming quarters,” Powell said. “The path is likely to be bumpy and take some time…My colleagues and I are united in our commitment to bringing inflation down sustainably to 2%.”

The weeks since the Fed’s September meeting have been unusually turbulent, with worries about regional war in the Middle East rising and bond markets driving market interest rates higher, tightening the financial conditions faced by businesses and households somewhat independent of the Fed.

Data since the Fed’s last meeting also has shown US job growth reaccelerating unexpectedly, retail sales defying predictions of a slowdown and varying measures of prices offering inconsistent signals about whether inflation is on track to return to the Fed’s 2% target in a timely manner.

Powell’s appearance comes less than 48 hours before the beginning of the traditional quiet period ahead of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting on Oct. 31-Nov. 1. While a handful of other Fed officials have appearances later on Thursday and Friday before blackout begins on Saturday, it is Powell’s remarks that will set the tone for policy expectations heading into that meeting.

Should they leave rates unchanged in two weeks as is now widely expected, it would mark the first back-to-back meetings with no rate increase since the Fed kicked off its hiking campaign in March 2022.

A Reuters poll of more than 100 economists published on Wednesday showed more than 80% expect no rate hike at the next meeting, and most also believe the Fed is done with rate hikes even though a majority of policymakers at their September meeting projected one more quarter-point increase was likely to be needed by year end.

Many in the poll offered the caveat that if progress on inflation stalls out or reverses, the Fed would not hesitate to resume raising rates.

Entertainment

Rapper Ghetts facing new charges after allegedly causing death by dangerous driving

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1 hour ago

November 24, 2025

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Rapper Ghetts facing new charges after allegedly causing death by dangerous driving

The rapper Ghetts, who allegedly caused the death of a man in a hit-and-run collision, is facing further charges.

The rapper was charged at the end of last month after a 20-year-old died in a road incident in northeast London.

The musician, whose real name is Justin Clarke-Samuel, initially faced a single count of causing the death of Yubin Tamang by dangerous driving.

He now faces two further charges of driving dangerously before and after the collision on 18 October.

It is alleged he drove dangerously in Tavistock Place, in the Bloomsbury area of central London, and on other roads in the borough of Camden, north London.

The collision with Mr Tamang occurred in Redbridge Lane, Ilford, at 11.33pm on 18 October, the Met Police said. Clarke-Samuel is accused of failing to stop after his BMW hit the victim.

Mr Tamang died on 20 October.

Clarke-Samuel allegedly continued to drive dangerously in Worcester Crescent, Redbridge, on the journey back to his home in King’s Avenue, Woodford, east London.

The black BMW, which is allegedly registered and insured in the defendant’s name, was said to have suffered significant damage.

The rapper has been in custody since a preliminary appearance at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on 27 October.

On Monday, he appeared at the Old Bailey by videolink from Pentonville prison and spoke to confirm his name.

Mr Tamang’s family watched in the court, having travelled to the UK from Nepal.

Adjourning the case, Judge Nigel Lickley KC said Clarke-Samuel could appear in court by videolink again next time as he remanded him in custody.

Sports

D-II Eastern New Mexico hires Art Briles as coach

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1 hour ago

November 24, 2025

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D-II Eastern New Mexico hires Art Briles as coach

Adam RittenbergNov 24, 2025, 12:15 AM ET
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Art Briles has been hired as the next coach at Eastern New Mexico, a Division II program, as he makes his return to college football after nearly a decade.

Briles, 69, has not worked at a college program since being fired as Baylor’s head coach in 2016 following a review of the university’s handling of sexual assault allegations made against several football players. He since has had stints coaching for Guelfi Firenze in the Italian Football League and at Mount Vernon High School in Texas from 2019 to 2020.

“I am excited to welcome Art to Eastern New Mexico University,” Eastern New Mexico athletic director Kevin Fite said in a statement Monday. “He is an excellent coach, and I look forward to the future of Greyhound football.”

In 2022, Grambling State attempted to hire Briles as offensive coordinator, but following a backlash, he told the school just four days later that he would not pursue the role, saying he didn’t want to be a distraction to the team. A similar situation occurred in 2017 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, who tried to hire Briles but then pulled their offer on the same day amid backlash.

Fite served as associate athletic director for compliance and eligibility at Houston when Briles served as the school’s head coach. Briles, who built his reputation as an offensive innovator at Texas high schools before entering the college ranks, went 99-65 as the coach at Baylor and Houston with three conference titles. He led Baylor to 10 or more wins in four of his final five seasons there.

Several months after his firing from Baylor, Briles, in an interview with ESPN, apologized for what happened under his watch of the program.

“I understand that I made some mistakes, and for that I’m sorry,” he said then. “But I’m not trying to plead for people’s sympathy. I’m just stating that, ‘Hey, I made some mistakes. I was wrong. I’m sorry. I’m going to learn. I’m going to do better.'”

In 2023, a federal judge ruled that Briles was not negligent in a case involving a female Baylor student who reported being physically assaulted by one of the school’s football players in 2014. Briles, who led Baylor’s program from 2008 to 2015, received a $15.1 million settlement from Baylor, which fired him with eight years remaining on his contract.

Sports

Cal fires Wilcox after 48-55 mark in nine seasons

Published

1 hour ago

November 24, 2025

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Cal fires Wilcox after 48-55 mark in nine seasons

Cal has fired coach Justin Wilcox after he went 48-55 over nine seasons with the Golden Bears, general manager Ron Rivera announced Sunday.

Wilcox’s final game came Saturday, as Cal lost 31-10 to rival Stanford, a game in which Cal was favored. The loss dropped Cal to 6-5 on the season, which marked the third straight year that Cal reached bowl eligibility.

“I want to thank Justin for all of his contributions to our football program, our athletic department and our university,” Rivera said in a statement. “He has always comported himself with class and professionalism. After careful consideration, we believe the time has come for new leadership. We wish Justin the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

Per his contract, Wilcox, the sixth-winningest coach in program history, will be owed approximately $10.9 million.

The end of Wilcox’s tenure comes at an interesting crossroads for Cal. It has two co-directors of athletics — Jay Larson and Jenny Simon O’Neill. Cal also hired Rivera, the longtime NFL coach, as its new football general manager to help modernize the program.

Nick Rolovich, the former head coach at Washington State and Hawai’i, has been named interim coach. He’d been working as a senior offensive assistant for Cal this season.

Wilcox’s teams were always solid and competitive, but they’d recently been undercut by a lack of NIL support. A flurry of starters left the 2024 Golden Bears, including Heisman Trophy favorite Fernando Mendoza (Indiana), former first-team all-Pac-12 tailback Jaydn Ott (Oklahoma) and star tight end Jack Endries (Texas).

Even with all the high-profile defections, it’d been a season of relative optimism for Cal until the loss to Stanford, the tenor of which was unexpected. Cal had recruited perhaps the country’s best true freshman quarterback, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who flashed the promise of being a linchpin for the future.

It also reloaded with a solid transfer class that helped it with solid wins against Minnesota, North Carolina and an upset win just last week at Louisville.

Cal is in its second season in the ACC, and Wilcox was just 5-10 in ACC play the past two seasons. In none of his nine seasons at Cal did he manage a winning record in league play, which included seven years in the Pac-12 and two in the ACC.

Wilcox, 49, is a well-regarded coach with strong ties to the West Coast, as he has been defensive coordinator at spots such as Boise State, Washington and USC. He has also been a coordinator at Tennessee and Wisconsin, where he worked in 2016 prior to getting the Cal head coaching job.