Politics & Government Wesleyan economist praises Federal Reserve for reducing inflation Zelity believes housing market will improve as interest rates are loweredBy Scott BenjaminWesleyan University Assistant Professor of Economics Balazs Zelity states that the Federal Reserve Board’s recent decisions are largely responsible for what appears to be a soft economic landing following the highest surge in inflation in more than 40 years. The December 2023 inflation rate was 3.4 percent – well below the 9.1 percent recent peak in June 2022. The unemployment rate currently stands at 3.7 percent – about where it was in early 2020 shortly before the pandemic. The question now is whether we can reach 2 percent inflation with the current level of interest rates. A lot more than it did before the Federal Reserve Board raised interest rates.” Zelity predicts improvement in 2024.

Source: New York Times January 12, 2024 18:28 UTC