Fed’s Actions Harming the Economy

Washington D.C. – Today the U.S. Labor Department’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed inflation is slowing overall while every major industry sector continued to raise prices on average consumers last month. While higher interest rates have failed to address ongoing corporate profiteering that is keeping prices high, last week Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell declared interest rates are ‘likely to be higher’ than previously expected despite Fed economists’ own projections that higher rates will drive up the unemployment rate to 4.6 percent – a staggering 2 million layoffs.

Doing More Harm Than Good: Higher rates have already slowed wage growth and caused a decline in demand in the U.S. manufacturing sector. While millions of Americans losing their jobs appears to be an acceptable outcome for Chairman Powell, experts are speculating the Fed could pause further hikes in the aftermath of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse. Other poorly managed banks that made risky decisions after Republicans in Congress gutted Dodd-Frank safeguards also find themselves in trouble under higher rates.