Despite inflation cooling over the past few months, it still remains well above the Fed’s 2% target. Moreover, the recently released February jobs report showed that nonfarm payrolls rose by 311,000 in February, higher than the 225,000 estimates, indicating a tight labor market.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said that stronger-than-expected economic data in recent weeks suggests “the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated.”
