for release on delivery 9 : 30 a. m. edt june 22, 2022 statement by jerome h. powell chair board of governors of the federal reserve system before the committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs u. s. senate june 22, 2022 chairman brown, ranking member toomey, and other members of the committee, i appreciate the opportunity to present the federal reserve ’ s semiannual monetary policy report. i will begin with one overarching message. at the fed, we understand the hardship high inflation is causing. we are strongly committed to bringing inflation back down, and we are moving expeditiously to do so. we have both the tools we need and the resolve it will take to restore price stability on behalf of american families and businesses. it is essential that we bring inflation down if we are to have a sustained period of strong labor market conditions that benefit all. i will review the current economic situation before turning to monetary policy. current economic situation and outlook inflation remains well above our longer - run goal of 2 percent. over the 12 months ending in april, total pce ( personal consumption expenditures ) prices rose 6. 3 percent ; excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core pce prices rose 4. 9 percent. the available data for may suggest the core measure likely held at that pace or eased slightly last month. aggregate demand is strong, supply constraints have been larger and longer lasting than anticipated, and price pressures have spread to a broad range of goods and services. the surge in prices of crude oil and other commodities that resulted from russia ’ s invasion of ukraine is boosting prices for gasoline and fuel and is creating additional upward pressure on inflation. and covid - 19 - related lockdowns in china are likely to exacerbate ongoing supply chain disruptions. over the past year, inflation also increased rapidly in many foreign economies, as discussed in a box in the june monetary policy report. overall economic activity edged down in the first quarter, as unusually sharp swings in inventories and net exports more than offset continued strong underlying demand. recent - 2indicators suggest that real gross domestic product growth has picked up this quarter, with consumption spending remaining strong. in contrast, growth in business fixed investment appears to be slowing, and activity in the housing sector looks to be softening, in part reflecting higher mortgage rates. the tightening in financial conditions that we have seen in recent months should continue to temper growth and help bring demand into better

lael brainard : " fed listens " in richmond - how does monetary policy affect your community? speech by ms lael brainard, member of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the federal reserve bank of richmond, richmond community listening session, richmond, virginia, 8 may 2019. * * * it is good to be here in richmond today. 1 i appreciate my colleague, tom barkin, leading this event, and it is a pleasure to also be with sherrie brach armstrong, ceo of the community foundation for a greater richmond ; tim davey, timmons group economic development manager ; shawn smith, director of workforce development at goodwill of central and coastal virginia ; and robert ukrop, chairman and ceo of ukrop ’ s homestyle foods. today ’ s community listening session is part of a series called “ fed listens. ” the federal reserve is undertaking a review to make sure we are carrying out the monetary policy goals assigned to us by the congress in the most effective way we can. 2 in conducting this review, we are reaching out to communities around the country in sessions like this to understand how you are experiencing the economy day to day. two goals so what are the monetary policy goals the congress assigned us? congress has assigned the federal reserve to use monetary policy to achieve maximum employment and price stability. these two goals are what we refer to as our dual mandate. by price stability we mean moderate and stable inflation. specifically, the federal open market committee ( fomc ) — the group at the fed responsible for determining monetary policy — has announced that our goal is to keep inflation around 2 percent over time. the maximum employment part of our dual mandate is straightforward : the congress has directed us to achieve the highest level of employment — and thus the lowest level of unemployment — that is consistent with price stability. while the congress has specified the goals for monetary policy and a set of tools or authorities to pursue them, it has allowed the fomc to determine how to best go about achieving those goals. reviewing how we conduct monetary policy last year, core inflation was very close to our goal. and the unemployment rate is at a 50 - year low. we are undertaking our review to ensure we are well positioned to meet our goals for many years to come. we also want to make sure that the way we are setting monetary policy is keeping up with the way the economy is changing, which i have been referring to as the “ new normal. " 3 there