Inflation eased last month as energy prices tumbled. The Commerce Department reported Friday that consumer prices were up 6.3 percent in July from a year earlier. Retired Ripon college economist Paul Schoofs says that’s good news. Schoofs notes from June to July there was a slight decrease in the consumer price index of one tenth of one percent. Responding to the Federal Reserve chair’s comments that the Fed is determined to bring inflation down to it’s two percent target. “We’re going to stick to our guns he ( Powell) said,” Schoofs told WFDL news. “There will be some softening in the labor market. In otherwords we can expect some increase in unemployment as a result of this policy. That’s a price we’re going to pay for for getting inflation under control.” The Fed’s rate hikes may well defeat inflation in time. But fear is growing that they may cause a recession the process.
