The Fed raises interest rates again, signals more coming despite pressure to slow the pace

The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that in its continuing efforts to tamp down inflation, it would raise interest rates yet again by another three-quarters of a point to a target range of 3.75 to 4 percent.

Federal Reserve Chairperson Jerome Powell said during a press conference following the announcement that the "historically fast pace" of rate increases is "appropriate given the persistence and strength in inflation and low level at which we started."

Powell, who has been pressured in recent months by members of Congress to avert a recession, said that at some point it will make sense to slow down the pace of increases but added, "We have some ways to go," and said he anticipates ongoing increases.

Powell said he does not want to prematurely change the Fed's approach because " … the longer the current bout of high inflation continues, the greater the chance that expectations of higher inflation will become entrenched.

…

On Monday, Sens. Warren, Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.,; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; and Jeff Merkley D-Ore., joined by U.S. Reps. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas; Jesus "Chuy" G. Garcia and Katie Porter, D-Calif.; Madeleine Dean, D-4th District., Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., wrote to Powell, complaining that "your ‘overarching focus' on ‘using [the Fed's] tools to bring inflation back down to our 2 percent goal' no matter the cost is particularly troubling given the limits of interest rate hikes in addressing key drivers of today's inflation, including lingering supply chain snarls, corporate price gouging, and the war in Ukraine."

Powell had previously heard from U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo