The surprisingly strong labor market may be a sign that the fight against inflation will take more time and demand higher interest rates than many had expected, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Hiring ticked up in January in a showing Mr. Powell said was "stronger than anyone I know expected," The Journal reported Feb. 7. He didn't say whether advance knowledge of the report would have changed the Fed's decision a few days prior to slow rate increases for the second time in a row.
"[Reigning in inflation] is likely to take quite a bit of time," Mr. Powell said. "It's not going to be, we don't think, smooth. It's probably going to be bumpy. … It may well be the case that we have to do more rate hikes, more than is priced in."
Employers added 517,000 jobs in January, ending a cooling trend, and unemployment fell to its lowest rate since 1969, the Labor Department said Feb. 3. The department also revised previous months' reported job gains higher, suggesting more momentum behind the economy heading into 2023 than previously thought.