Fed Meets At Jackson Hole, Which Is Recovering

As the Federal Reserve prepares to hold its annual economic conference in Jackson Hole on Friday and Saturday, its policymakers are trying to guide the US economy toward something akin to what’s happening in Jackson Hole, which is recovering, Christopher Rugaber reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Even as they cool the economy, the Fed’s policymakers hope to avoid tipping it into a recession — a notoriously difficult achievement that economists call a “soft landing.” I Photo: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

They have jacked up their key interest rate to a 22-year high to try to slow growth and bring inflation down to their 2% target. Consumer inflation, which peaked last year at 9.1%, is now 3.2%.

Even as they cool the economy, the Fed’s policymakers hope to avoid tipping it into a recession — a notoriously difficult achievement that economists call a “soft landing.”

In Jackson, signs that the economy is stabilizing have begun to emerge. Supply chains have normalized for some retailers, reducing pricing pressures. Hotel occupancy rates have come off the boil of the pandemic years; room rates have eased in response.

Real estate agents are advertising some reduced home prices, though by national standards they remain astronomical.

Jackson, to be sure, is not a bellwether community. It lies in Grand Teton County, the richest and most unequal county in the nation.

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