Worsening inflation will pressure Fed to keep raising rates
Associated PressWASHINGTON — Inflation in the United States accelerated in September, with the cost of housing and other necessities intensifying pressure on households, wiping out pay gains and ensuring that the Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates aggressively. And on a month-to-month basis, such “core” prices soared 0.6% for a second straight time, defying expectations for a slowdown and signaling that the Fed’s multiple rate hikes have yet to ease inflation pressures. Speaking Thursday in Los Angeles, Biden acknowledged the pain that inflation is causing many people, while suggesting that the latest figures showed “some progress.” “Americans are squeezed by the cost of living,” the president said. Fed policymakers said at the September meeting that inflation was “showing little sign so far of abating,” according to minutes from the Fed’s most recent meeting. “There’s a saying in economics that prices go up like rockets and down like feathers,” said Eric Swanson, a former Fed economist who is now a professor at the University of California, Irvine.