Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said on Thursday it was appropriate to focus on returning inflation to the central bank's 2% target given the U.S. labour market has been "very resilient" to the current energy shock.
"When I'm thinking about my policy decision meeting by meeting, I'm absolutely focused on price stability, but by mandate I also need to keep in mind what's happening in the labour market," Jefferson said during a question and answer session after a speech at a conference hosted by the BOJ and its think tank in Tokyo.
"The U.S. labour market has been very resilient to the current shock. Given that resiliency, it seems appropriate that the focus will be on returning inflation to 2%," he said.
Jefferson's comments were his first since last Friday's swearing in of Kevin Warsh as the Fed's new chair.
Jefferson said it was difficult to say "moment by moment" what exactly the Fed's rate policy could be given the uncertainty over the extent and duration of the war-induced energy shock.
"What all segments of society are noticing is increasing energy and gasoline prices in particular. We are sensitive to how that's impacting the lives of everyday people," he said.
Source : reuters