Fed’s Mester: Rate hikes have begun to quell US inflation

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Growing evidence that high inflation is finally easing shows that the Federal Reserve’s sharp interest rate hikes are working as intended, says Loretta Mester, a key Fed policymaker. But further rate hikes are still needed, she says, to decisively crush the worst inflation bout in four decades. “We’re beginning to see the kind of actions that we need to see,” Mester, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said in an interview with The Associated Press. Other Fed officials, too, have said they were encouraged by recent milder readings on inflation and wage growth. But Mester’s comments are notable because she is among the more consistently hawkish members of the Fed’s 19-person interest-rate-setting committee.