Fed official warns inflation is still too high

Fed official: Inflation still too high in ‘all aspects’ of economy

Neel Kashkari, the president of the Federal Reserve’s Minneapolis branch , said Sunday that inflation is “still too high,” days after the central bank raised interest rates.

“Even if we strip out energy, which is really volatile, and strip out food, they matter a lot, but in terms of where the economy is going, inflation is still too high,” Kashkari told host Jackie DeAngelis on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”

He later said, “The inflation that the American people are feeling every day is much beyond just oil prices. It’s in all aspects of the economy.”

Annual inflation in August was 3.4 percent , as measured by the consumer price index (CPI). Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was 2.4 percent last month, per the CPI.

Inflation has remained above the Fed’s 2 percent target rate since March 2021, reaching a 40-year high of 9.1 percent in June 2022.

Persistent inflation spurred the 12-member Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to raise its baseline interest rate target by a quarter point last week, to a range of 3.75 percent to 4 percent .

The FOMC had not hiked rates since July 2023 and cut rates at its final three meetings of last year. After the unanimous vote, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said the rate hike “will support a timelier return” to the central bank’s 2 percent target.

“I would be hard-pressed to describe broad financial conditions as restrictive,” Warsh told reporters. “This view was widely shared by the committee, so we removed a dose of accommodation.”

Welcome to The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter , I’m Julia Shapero — bringing you the latest on the intersection of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

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Key business and economic news with implications this week and beyond:

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday he has “great confidence” in Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh after the central bank raised interest rates by a quarter point against the wishes of President Trump.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday officials from the U.S. and China are considering lowering tariffs on “noncritical” products, as President Trump prepares to host Chinese President Xi Jinping this week in Washington, D.C.

Payments are set to be issued starting Monday in the $115 million class action lawsuit against tech company Oracle that “millions” could have qualified for.

Both parties are embracing the Supreme Court’s summer ruling that allows parties to coordinate and spend unlimited amounts of money with campaigns as marquee midterm races head into the home stretch.

Branch out with more stories from the day:

Barrasso says ‘we need to do more’ on affordability as midterms near

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said Sunday that the GOP needs to “do more” to lower costs for Americans with the midterms roughly six weeks away.

Business and economic news we’ve flagged from other outlets:

Nasdaq notches record-high close, AI optimism reignites and Treasury yields retreat ( Reuters )

AMD hits $1 trillion market cap for the first time as stock rides 5-day rally ( CNBC )

President Trump’s abrupt move to withdraw White House press credentials for three news organizations triggered a rare moment of unity among television networks, with several news media outlets announcing Monday they would not cover the president’s daily activities while the ban on the trio remains … Read more

Belarus’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko said Monday that there are no available volumes of fertilizer to send to the U.S. This came after President Trump announced that he was working on a “massive Deal” to buy potash from Minsk at a steep discount amid the trade war with Canada. Read more

Opinions related to business and economic issues submitted to The Hill: