"The policy rate remains restrictive enough to continue putting downward pressure on inflation over the longer term, as we need it to, while not negatively impacting the rest of the economy," Harker said in remarks prepared for delivery in Newark, Delaware. Meanwhile recent inflation data shows progress toward the Fed's 2% goal is slowing and still bumpy, he noted, with consumer prices in January unexpectedly rising at the fastest pace in a year and half. Still, he said in what is a common view among Fed policymakers, "the caution I am taking is to look at all the data and not be moved to act, in either direction, based on one report covering one month."
