As Federal Reserve officials convened in Washington for the start of their two-day policy meeting, a group of protesters gathered outside their headquarters to remind them that the aggressive interest-rate increases they’re considering to combat inflation-- potentially including the steepest hike since 1994 -- have a human cost.
Dozens of people wearing green T-shirts declaring themselves to be “full-employment defenders” chanted and waved signs that read “We are the economy” as the policy debate got underway. Officials are likely to consider raising interest rates by 0.75 percentage point this week after bad news on inflation signaled price increases are becoming more broad-based.
