Federal Reserve Williams: Tariffs and uncertainty will slow US economic growth this year and push up inflation.

Federal Reserve's Williams expects that the growth of the US economy will slow down this year and the inflation rate will rise, largely due to the impact of tariffs. Williams said, "I expect uncertainty and tariffs to suppress spending, reduce immigration, and therefore slow down labor force growth." Therefore, it is expected that economic growth this year will slow significantly to around 1%, and the unemployment rate will rise from the current 4.2% to 4.5% by the end of the year. He also expects that with Trump's tariff policies pushing prices up, the inflation rate will rise to 3% and then gradually slow down to the 2% target over two years. Williams did not make any forward-looking comments on interest rate policy. He said regarding FOMC meetings, "Maintaining this moderately restrictive monetary policy stance is entirely appropriate for achieving our maximum employment and price stability goals." The Federal Reserve's current interest rate stance "allows us to closely analyze newly received data, assess evolving outlooks, and evaluate the risk balance of achieving our dual mandate objectives."