Yellen Won’t Say Inflation Is Near Peak, Hopes for ‘Substantial Improvement Over the Coming Year’ and Sees Decline ‘Over Time’ Due to Fed

During a portion of an interview with CBS aired on Wednesday’s edition of “CBS Evening News,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen declined to say that inflation is near its peak and stated she doesn’t want to insert herself into forecasting things on a month-by-month basis, but she thinks it will “come down over time due to the actions” that are being taken by the Federal Reserve and that she hopes “to see substantial improvement over the coming year.”

Yellen said, “Inflation remains a problem. It obviously is of tremendous concern to Americans.”

She also stated, “We hope to see substantial improvement over the coming year.”

CBS News White House Correspondent Nancy Cordes then asked, “Do you think inflation is close to peaking?”

Yellen answered, “I don’t want to get involved in month-by-month forecasts. I do believe it’ll come down over time due to the actions the Fed is taking.”

Yellen also commented on the economic impacts of a potential rail strike and a possible recession in Europe, stating that a rail strike would be “a significant impediment to shipping goods. It’s certainly something we don’t want to see happen.” And that a European recession “would have some spillovers to us. I think we shouldn’t exaggerate how significant they would be. But I do think this winter is going to be tough and challenging for our European neighbors.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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