Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress yesterday that if the pace of price increases do not come down, the central bank will get more aggressive with raising short-term borrowing costs.  Powell said “If we see inflation persisting at high levels, longer than expected, we will have to raise interest rates more over time.  Powell is facing the Senate for his renomination for a second term running the nation’s central bank.

Inflation rose at its fastest 12-month pace in nearly 40 years during December, according to a closely watched gauge from the Labor Department.  The consumer price index, a gauge that measures costs across dozens of items, increased 7%, according to the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a monthly basis, CPI increased 0.5%.

Shares of Boeing are higher after they reported sales and deliveries of new planes surged last year as customers looked beyond the pandemic’s toll on travel demand, but the manufacturer still ended 2021 behind chief rival Airbus.  Boeing handed over 340 jetliners to airlines and other buyers, up from 157 in 2020.  The deliveries were led largely by the 737 Max, which regulators worldwide had grounded for nearly two years after a fatal crash in 2018 and another in 2019.  The increase in deliveries was welcome news for Boeing, which has struggled in the wake of crashes, the pandemic and manufacturing issues.