While President Biden and congressional Democrats claim that Bidenflation may have peaked, a new report by the Federal Reserve contradicts that optimism by pointing to continued “strong” inflationary pressure, customers paying higher prices as a result of higher input costs, and hiring held back by the lack of available workers.
The Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book,” which surveys American businesses across the country, warns of widespread challenges pervading the economy and falling on consumers–and shows little optimism about an end to inflation coming any time soon.
Key Points:
- “Hiring was held back by the overall lack of available workers”
- “Inflationary pressures remained strong since the last report, with firms continuing to pass swiftly rising input costs through to customers.”
- “Firms in most Districts expected inflationary pressures to continue over the coming months.”
- In the New York region, firms reported that higher prices had eroded consumers’ spending power.
As CNBC’s Steve Liesman reported:
“I was hoping that we would see some signs of peak inflation from this report, that is not the case, the Beige Book saying that inflationary pressures remain strong. Firms continue to pass ‘swiftly rising costs on to consumers’ …“There was more bad news on inflation, where inflationary pressure will continue or was expected to continue over the next coming months…”“Strong demand for workers, but couldn’t hire all those workers because hiring was held back by a lack of available employees–a recurring theme in the Beige Book.”Liesman closed: “No relief at all in the Beige Book’s characterization of the inflation dynamic rippling through–or ripping through the economy may be a better way to put it.”
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