Washington (AP) — Federal Reserve Board member at this week’s two-day parliamentary hearing for those concerned about rising prices for everything from food and gas to plane tickets and clothing. The message from the meeting’s Chairman Jerome Powell was simple. Their price increases should slow down or reverse.

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors chairs make it much harder to predict how inflation, unemployment, etc. will develop as the United States is in the midst of an unparalleled economic resumption following a pandemic recession. I admitted that.

“This particular inflation is unique in history,” Powell said Thursday in front of the Senate Bank, Housing and Urban Affairs Commission. “There is no other example of the final resumption of the $ 20 trillion economy. We are humble about what we understand.”

Powell submits a monetary policy report to Congress twice a year. On Wednesday, he appeared before the House Financial Services Commission, where he said inflation could slow “in six months or so”, suggesting that a clear reading about inflation wouldn’t come until the end of the year. Did.

“This is the Fed, which says it’s ready to withstand rising inflation for more than just a few months,” said Tim Duy, chief US economist at consulting firm SGH MacroAdvisors. ..

Powell aims to calm Senators and House members, especially Republicans, who have repeatedly raised the issue of high prices and often blamed President Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion bailout package enacted in March.

On Tuesday, the United States reported that prices paid by Americans were soaring over the last 13 years in June. Powell admitted that the increase was greater than he (and most economists) expected.

He benefited from a narrow set of industries that were hit hard by surges in demand and often severe supply shortages as the country emerged from the worst of the pandemic.

“It’s an airplane ticket, a hotel room, some other thing, and they occupy essentially all the overshoots,” Powell said.

“I think these are obviously temporary. I don’t know when they will end, but they will be gone,” he said.

Powell, though not named, acknowledged that there could be forces that could continue to boost inflation. Some economists are concerned that rising home and rent prices could act as a long-term rise in consumer prices. But he said the Fed is closely monitoring price movements and will respond to such changes.

“I don’t think we have to wait a tremendous amount of time to find out if our basic understanding of this is correct,” he said.

The Federal Reserve Board has stated that it will lock benchmark short-term interest rates to near zero until it reaches maximum employment and believes that annual inflation will moderately exceed 2% for some time. Central bank policymakers say they are ready to accept inflation above target to compensate for long-standing inflation of less than 2%.

“Of course, we’re not happy with that,” Powell admitted on Thursday that inflation is now well above 2%. However, he noted that the unemployment rate also remained rising to 5.9%, arguing that the Fed did not want to raise interest rates to counter what was temporarily considered high.

The Fed also buys $ 120 billion a month in government bonds and mortgage-backed securities aimed at keeping long-term interest rates low to encourage borrowing and spending. According to Powell, the Fed has begun discussions on a time frame to reduce these bond purchases and will continue to discuss them at the next meeting two weeks later.

Some economists believe the Fed is likely to announce a reduction in these purchases in September, while others argue that it is likely to be announced in November or December.

Senator approves another term for Powell, in contrast to Wednesday’s house hearing, where three lawmakers (two Republicans and one Democrat) deserve a second four-year term. did not do it.

Instead, Powell was enthusiastic about a policy decision by two senators, Sherrod Brown in Ohio and Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, who announced deregulation of the largest bank in the United States.

“It’s time to change the way we think about regulating the largest banks,” Brown said.

Some progressive groups favor replacing Powell with someone who is more supportive of tighter financial regulation. Powell’s term ends in February, but if President Biden decides to reappoint him, the announcement could be as early as this fall.

On another issue, Powell said Thursday that the benefits of the digital dollar, also known as the central bank’s digital currency, are undecided. Digital currencies may allow faster payments between banks, consumers and businesses, allowing Americans to hold dollars in their smartphone’s electronic wallet without the need for a traditional bank account.

“I haven’t legally decided whether profits outweigh costs or vice versa,” Powell said.