A top Federal Reserve official said Monday that an interest rate hike could be appropriate if inflation remains persistently above the central bank’s 2% target, the latest sign that some policymakers are moving away from a bias toward reducing borrowing costs.
Beth Hammack, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said in an interview with The Associated Press that her general preference is for the Fed keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged “for quite some time.”
And she also said the Fed might have to cut its rate if higher gas prices caused the economy to slow and unemployment to rise. But if inflation remained elevated, a rate hike could be needed, she said.
AP offering buyouts
The Associated Press said Monday it is offering buyouts to an unspecified number of its U.S.-based journalists.
The News Media Guild, the union that represents AP journalists, said more than 120 staff members received buyout offers on Monday.
The news organization is becoming more focused on visual journalism and developing new revenue sources, particularly through companies investing in artificial intelligence, to cope with the economic collapse of many legacy news outlets. Once the lion’s share of AP’s revenue, big newspaper companies now account for 10% of its income.
“We’re not a newspaper company and we haven’t been for quite some time,” Julie Pace, executive editor and senior vice president of the AP, said in an interview.