Michelle Bowman, Fed vice chair for supervision, said inflationary pressures persist while the labor market is stabilizing and inflation still has room to fall. She expects October core PCE YoY to rise to 3.3%, driven mainly by energy-price increases and AI-related demand, and said the lack of progress on inflation is not due to an overheated labor market. Bowman said core PCE could move toward 2% next year as AI-related construction demand cools and Middle East conflict pressures ease. She warn

Michelle Bowman, Fed vice chair for supervision, said inflationary pressures persist while the labor market is stabilizing and inflation still has room to fall. She expects October core PCE YoY to rise to 3.3%, driven mainly by energy-price increases and AI-related demand, and said the lack of progress on inflation is not due to an overheated labor market. Bowman said core PCE could move toward 2% next year as AI-related construction demand cools and Middle East conflict pressures ease. She warned recent equity declines, higher Treasury yields and a stronger dollar have already tightened financial conditions, and the economy has strengthened year-to-date. Any further policy tightening must be weighed against costs to interest-rate-sensitive sectors; persistence of AI demand and the path of geopolitical risk will be key near-term determinants of policy. She did not explicitly call for rate hikes but stressed the Fed must still drive inflation back to 2%.