Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Governor Neel Kashkari said that more data is needed to know if the process of returning inflation to the 2% target has stalled.
“It's a bit too early to assert that it must have stalled,” Kashkari said.
“We are now in a good position, the labor market is still strong, and we can take a moment to get more data to see if the decline in inflation continues. If so, that's great; if not, then we need to consider that”.
Kashkari said there are sectors of the economy that are slow to respond to monetary policy, such as housing.
Kashkari said earlier on Tuesday at the Milken Institute global conference that the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates at current levels “for a long period of time” until officials are convinced that inflation is moving towards target levels.