Richmond Federal Reserve Bank president Thomas Barkin said on Wednesday that the big picture of the U.S. data on inflation and jobs has been remarkable. He, however, noted that January's data on PPI and CPI have been less good, showing the dependence of disinflation on goods and sticky prices for shelter and services, but added that these figures should not put too much weight on the month's information given known seasonality issues.
The official also admitted that ease of hiring is not yet back to normal, but conditions are improving. In addition, he said that productivity metrics are poor and need to be viewed over longer time periods but warned that it's too soon to say there's been a sea change in productivity.
Also, Barkin expressed the view that weaker growth overseas should not have much impact on the U.S. recovery. However, he said that the U.S. still has a ways to go to get a soft landing. "We are not on the ground yet," the Richmond Fed's boss added.