Fed's Rosengren Sees No Clear Sign Inflation Trending Higher

There is no sign that inflation is trending higher, allowing the Federal Reserve to be patient, said Eric Rosengren, the president of the Boston Fed, on Wednesday. "A policy of patience in the United States continues to be appropriate," Rosengren said in a speech to an economics seminar in Frankfurt, Germany. Inflation has taken on a more "prominent role" in Fed deliberations because the labor market has improved significantly, while "the horizon over which inflation will return to its target being uncertain," Rosengren said. The Fed targets a 2% annual rate as measured by the personal consumption expenditure index or PCE. That index was running at a 0.7% annual rate in December. The core rate, which strips out volatile oil and food prices, was up at a 1.3% rate. Rosengren is not a voting member of the Fed policy making committee this year.