Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, warned Sunday the inflation crisis does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
Inflation hit 9.1% last month, a figure not seen in more than 40 years.
What did Kashkari say?
Speaking on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Kashkari revealed that economists are repeatedly surprised at new data that shows an alarming inflationary trajectory.
“We keep getting inflation readings — new data that comes in, and as recently as this past week — and we keep getting surprised. It’s higher than we expect,” Kashkari explained.
“And it’s not just a few categories — it’s spreading out more broadly across the economy,” he asserted.
The significant problem with inflation, Kashkari said, is the purchasing power of every dollar is decreasing. Thus, despite wages increasing, Americans have less money to spend because the rate of inflation is outpacing wage growth.
“For most Americans, their wages are going up, but they’re not going up as fast as inflation,” Kashkari said. “So most Americans’ real wages, real incomes are going down. That’s why families are finding it increasingly hard to make ends meet. When they go to the grocery store, when they buy necessities, they’re not able to buy as much because they’re getting a real-wage cut because inflation is growing so quickly.”
Minneapolis Fed chief says inflation still “very concerning”
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The comments came just days after Kashkari told the New York Times that it will be a long time before inflation subsides to the Fed’s targeted range.
“The committee is united in our determination to get inflation back down to 2%, and I think we’re going to continue to do what we need to do until we are convinced that inflation is well on its way back down to 2%— and we are a long way away from that,” he said.
Where is inflation going?
Despite the Fed continuing to raise benchmark interest rates to tamper inflationary pressures, inflation is likely to continue at alarming levels through the rest of the year.
Kiplinger, in fact, is predicting that inflation will remain around 9% for the rest of the year, a crippling forecast for Americans already struggling the make ends meet.