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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.Kent Nishimura/Getty ImagesFed Chair Jerome Powell said that he expects interest rates to stay higher for longer.He said his confidence that inflation will slow “is not as high as it was.”Still, the slowing job market is a sign that the economy is moving in the right direction.Inflation and interest rates are still high, but Americans shouldn’t count on any relief just yet.Since July 2023, the Federal Reserve has held interest rates steady as it continues to work toward its 2% inflation target, and it looks like rates might stay the same for longer than previously expected.The year-over-year increase in the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, came in at 3.4% in April, per a news release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics out Wednesday. That’s just below March’s 3.5% increase and shows that despite the slight cooling, inflation is still remaining stubbornly high. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased 3.6% from April 2023 to this past April, a small dip from the 3.8% year-over-year rise in March.Mark Hamrick, Bankrate senior economic analyst, said in a statement that those rates “remain irritatingly high.””The status of the battle against inflation requires that interest rates remain elevated in the near-term,” Hamrick said.Fed Chair Jerome Powell elaborated on the implications of this year’s inflation readings during a Tuesday panel discussion in Amsterdam. While his comments were before Wednesday’s release, his message is still relevant: Americans should get used to interest rates being higher for longer until the Fed feels confident enough that inflation is moving in the right direction.”The first quarter in the United States was notable for its lack of further progress on inflation,” Powell said during t …
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