Two Fed officials collectively indicate hawkish stance: the battle against inflation has not yet been won.

Two Federal Reserve policymakers said last Saturday that they believe the Fed's task of controlling inflation is not yet complete, but they also hinted that they do not want to risk harming the labor market in their efforts to complete this task. The remarks by Fed governor Kuggler and San Francisco Fed president Daly highlight the delicate balance that Fed officials face this year as they seek to slow down the pace of interest rate cuts. The Fed lowered short-term rates by a full 100 basis points last year, to the current range of 4.25%-4.50%. The Fed's preferred inflation measure is well below the peak of around 7% in mid-2022, reaching 2.4% in November of last year. Nevertheless, this is higher than the Fed's 2% target, and in December policymakers expected progress towards achieving this target to be slower than they had earlier anticipated. At the annual meeting of the American Economic Association in San Francisco, Kuggler stated, "We fully recognize that we haven't done it yet - nobody is celebrating anywhere. At the same time... we want to keep the unemployment rate from rising," rather than increasing rapidly. In November of last year, the unemployment rate reached 4.2%, which is consistent with her and her colleague Daly's view that maximizing the employment rate is the Fed's second goal after price stability. "At this point, I don't want to see further slowing in the labor market - maybe some fluctuation over a month, but certainly not a further slowdown in the labor market," Daly stated in the same panel discussion. Regarding the policy of the incoming US President Trump, these two Fed policymakers were not asked about it, nor did they voluntarily express their views on its potential impact on their economic policies, including tariffs and tax cuts. Some speculate that these policies may stimulate growth and reignite inflation.