A top Federal Reserve official said Monday that an interest rate hike could be appropriate if inflation remains persistently above the central bank’s 2% target, the latest sign that some policymakers are moving away from a bias toward reducing borrowing costs.

The jump in gas prices stemming from the war in Iran has had another impact that may also affect many Americans’ finances: Higher interest rates.

Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.

Federal Reserve policymakers will be debating whether stubborn inflation or slower hiring is the bigger problem for the economy as they prepare for an annual conference in Jackson, Wyoming, next week and a crucial policy meeting in September.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says Americans’ bank accounts are safe despite the Trump administration’s shutdown of a consumer financial regulatory agency.

The Federal Reserve is nearly certain to keep its key interest rate unchanged at its policy meeting this week, just a few days after President Donald Trump said he would soon demand lower rates.

Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, suggested that the economy appears to be on what he calls the “golden path,” another term for what economists often term a “soft landing,” in which the Fed would curb inflation without causing a deep recession.

Austan Goolsbee, who was a top economic adviser to President Barack Obama, has been chosen as the next president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the regional Fed bank announced.

In recent speeches, President Joe Biden has stopped talking so much about inflation worries.

FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2021, file photo President Joe Biden speaks about the economy in the State Dinning Room of the White House in Washington. One featured a public show of trying to reach across the political aisle, with bipartisan rhetoric and a White House invitation for Republican senators. But it's more likely that the White House will need to choose between the two extremes. “President Biden’s got some pretty big tests in front of him when it comes to domestic policy. AdThe process of securing the $787 billion package — aid broadly credited for helping boost an economy in free fall — left a bad taste for the Obama-Biden White House.

Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico said in imposing a two-week stay-at-home order. Nevada Democratic Gov. In Montana, where cases are up more than 16% in the past week, Democratic Gov. Democratic Gov. Some economists say the crisis has been falsely portrayed as a choice between the economy and public health.

To have true justice in America, we need economic justice, Biden said this week in Philadelphia. The former vice president says the plans to be unveiled later this month will focus on housing, education and access to capital. Biden, who ran a centrist campaign to win the primary, was moving to the left on some economic issues before the virus hit. But as Biden and other alumni of the Obama administration can attest, grand ambitions sometimes meet more challenging realities. Austan Goolsbee, Obamas chief economic adviser during the 2008 campaign who later served on the Council of Economic Advisers, noted there was a similar concern during those years that simply reacting to the economic crisis could take the focus off progressive priorities.