GM to begin laying off about 1,700 workers at Kansas plant, WARN notice shows
Ireland drops plans for hate speech law, minister says
Trump explains why he will not accept CNN debate against Harris
Russia says it will take no part in follow-up to 'peace summit'
France gets a new government after weeks of uncertainty
Sullivan expresses worry over escalating Israel-Lebanon tension, calls Hezbollah strike as justice served
Court gives 5 days for X to validate its Brazil legal representative
WNBA playoffs set to begin Sunday with all four first-round series getting underway
She was born blind, but she travels the world by herself
Carolina Moment: Local corn maze marks 20 years with focus on charity, community aid
(Reuters) - Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman on Friday said she expects U.S. inflation to decline further, but flagged worries about upward price pressure from rising wages and warned against cutting interest rates too soon.
"My baseline outlook is that inflation will decline further with the policy rate held at the current level," Bowman said in remarks prepared for delivery to a banking conference in Maui, Hawaii, noting that recent declines in inflation have been "encouraging."
If inflation continues to decline sustainably toward the Fed's 2% goal, she said, "it will eventually become appropriate to gradually lower our policy rate to prevent monetary policy from becoming overly restrictive."
But stronger-than-expected job market data published Friday suggests a pickup in wage growth and a stalling out of last year's progress toward labor market rebalancing, she said, adding that labor market tightness could keep underlying inflation elevated.
"I will remain cautious in my approach to considering future changes in the stance of policy," Bowman said. "Reducing our policy rate too soon could result in requiring further future policy rate increases to return inflation to 2 percent in the longer run."
Bowman voted with her Fed colleagues on Wednesday to keep the Fed's policy rate on hold in the 5.25%-5.5% range, where it has been since last July. Most Fed policymakers expect a round of rate cuts this year, with markets currently betting they will begin at their April 30-May 1 meeting.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir, editing by Deepa Babington)
