The chairman of the Federal Reserve (Fed, the central bank), Jerome Powell, reiterated his recent hawkish language at two international policy conferences at end-June. He suggested that further interest-rate increases were likely in the coming months. Data published on June 30th showed that personal consumption expenditure (PCE) inflation—the Fed’s preferred measure—remained high in May, confirming the high likelihood of additional tightening. Although US economic data have been mixed for months, the Fed remains focused on inflation, particularly sticky core inflation, to inform its policy decisions. Those data ... (full story)