Powell Says Jobs Still Short of Goal as Supply Woes Raise Prices

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said supply bottlenecks have been longer lasting than anticipated, and he expects inflation pressures to remain high in coming months before easing.

“These effects have been larger and longer lasting than anticipated, but they will abate, and as they do, inflation is expected to drop back toward our longer-run 2% goal,” Powell said in testimony to the Senate Banking Committee released Monday. “As reopening continues, bottlenecks, hiring difficulties, and other constraints could again prove to be greater and more enduring than anticipated, posing upside risks to inflation.”