All signs point to lower U.S. inflation in coming months, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said Friday.
“Inflation should come down a bit. I don’t expect it to be immediate. I don’t expect it to be predictable,” Barkin said in a luncheon speech to the Prince William Chamber of Commerce in suburban Washington D.C..
The Commerce Department reported earlier Friday that headline inflation softened in August but core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, picked up .
Barkin said that economists have different theories about inflation but all are pointing to lower inflation.
He said that business leaders don’t think the pricing power they’ve had over the past two years will last.
The Fed has been raising its benchmark interest rate at an historic pace – some 300 basis points since March. In addition, the Fed is penciling in another 150 basis points over the next six months.
Barkin said he didn’t have regrets with moving quickly because inflation has stayed stubbornly high this year.
“We have got to get this done,” Barkin said.
U.S. stocks
DJIA,
SPX,
were mixed Friday but have been weak since the Fed’s rate hike last week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
has eased a bit after getting close to 4% earlier this week.
