WASHINGTON: High US interest rates are doing their job in the fight against inflation, but more increases may yet be needed, top US Federal Reserve officials said on Thursday.
The statement from three regional Fed presidents with a vote on setting interest rates could solidify expectations that the US Federal Reserve intends to hold rates steady later this month amid increasing signs of weaker labor market conditions, according to AFP.
The central bank has raised its benchmark lending rate eleven times over the past eighteen months to a level not seen for twenty-two years as it grapples with inflation still stubbornly above its long-run target of 2%.
Federal reserve slows down pace of hikes
After rapidly increasing interest rates in 2022, the Federal Reserve slowed down the pace of its hikes over the summer, holding rates steady in June and then raising them by just twenty basis points in July.
Traders currently put the chances of a September pause at more than 90%, according to data from CME Group.
