Fed’s Mester urges caution despite positive inflation data

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester expressed cautious optimism in an CNBC interview today, acknowledging the positive trend in the latest May CPI data. “It is welcome to see that inflation is moving back down again,” Mester stated.

However, she stressed the need for sustained improvement, adding, “I would want to see a few more months of good inflation data: inflation coming down, the short-run inflation expectations starting to move down.”

Mester emphasized that before considering rate cuts, it is crucial to observe consistent data across multiple indicators. “And then you need to start thinking about, ‘OK, this might be the right panoply of data, and portfolio of data — what’s going on in the labor market, what’s going on in inflation — to move rates down,'” she said.