Fed’s Bostic: Inflation has fallen

Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic, who supports standing pat on the Fed’s policy rate, on Thursday said it is clear US inflation has fallen, though in recent months the signals have been less clear.

“I think it’s unambiguous that inflation has fallen considerably,” Bostic said at a dinner in Dublin, Ireland. “In these past six months signals have been more ambiguous. That’s real but I do think there are some shoots of green underneath it.”

It’s been a strong week of data for the US and was topped off with Weekly Initial Jobless claims that decreased 26,000 to a seasonally adjusted 239,000, the largest drop in 20 months and below the expectation of 265,000 by economists polled by Reuters.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell also indicated the central bank is likely to resume its rate hike path and this is weighing on its counterparts.