White House economic adviser says Fed actions starting to cool U.S. economy

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO – White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Cecilia Rouse participates in a discussion at the annual Freedman’s Bank Forum at the Treasury Department in Washington, U.S., October 4, 2022.

WASHINGTON – White House economic adviser Cecilia Rouse said on Sunday that Federal Reserve interest rate hikes were starting to cool the “red-hot” U.S. economy, especially labor and housing markets, but inflation was still too high.

Rouse, who chairs the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told CNN that the Biden administration would work to bring costs down “to the best of our abilities”. But some inflation is related to energy price spikes prompted by the war in Ukraine, she said.