Bernanke Sees Temporary Inflation Gain From Commodities

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the surge in oil and other commodity prices probably won’t cause a permanent increase in broader inflation and repeated that borrowing costs are likely to stay low.

Experience with such price gains in recent decades, along with currently stable labor costs, suggests a “temporary and relatively modest increase in U.S. consumer price inflation,” Bernanke said today in his semi-annual monetary policy testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in Washington. He reiterated the Fed’s outlook that while growth will accelerate this year, he still wants to see a “sustained period of stronger job creation.”