Marking his 100th day in the job, Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh told the Kansas City Fed's symposium in Wyoming that the US economy has strengthened rather than weakened under recent shocks, that the labour market is consistent with full employment, and that inflation remains the central bank's dominant concern.
Warsh declined to say what he would do next month, but he removed most of the arguments against acting and bolstered the ones in favour of a rate hike.
"For my part, today I am impressed by the overall performance of the economy, which appears to have strengthened," Warsh stated.
"One indicator of strength is how well an economy holds up to shocks. On that score, both Main Street and Wall Street have been remarkably resilient," he added.
On inflation, Warsh noted that the PCE index stood at 3.7% over twelve months and 4.1% over six, and 54% of the basket's components rose by more than 3% over the past year, against 32% in the two decades before the pandemic.
