Heather Long calls inflation the No. 1 problem in the U.S. economy

Trump maintains pressure on Warsh for lower rates

Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said, “Inflation is still the No. 1 problem in the U.S. economy, and there are a lot of signs it is getting more broad-based.” She said, “For consumers, it means really high borrowing costs for the foreseeable future.”

Long also said next week’s midterm elections factored into the central bank’s decision, decreasing the likelihood of a rate hike. Her view was one economist’s assessment ahead of the committee’s Wednesday meeting.

President Donald Trump had long called for lower interest rates and had sparred with former Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, including threats of removing Powell, for months, UPI reported. Trump appointed current chairman Kevin Warsh in the spring and continued pressing for lower rates under Warsh’s leadership.

After the Federal Reserve raised rates last month, Trump reiterated his demand on social media. “LOWER THE INTEREST RATES FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND FAST!” Trump said.

The Federal Open Market Committee is set to make its latest interest-rate decision Wednesday. United Press International reported that the prevailing expectation was for the Federal Reserve to leave rates unchanged; investors assigned less than a 10% chance of an increase.

The decision would follow September’s increase in consumer price inflation to a 3.7% annual rate, which UPI described as a four-month high and well above the Fed’s 2% target. Last month, the central bank raised rates by 25 basis points to a 3.75% to 4% target range, its first increase in three years. A pause would leave that range unchanged.

Supplementary FRED data as of Oct. 28, 2026, provided separate inflation context. The PCEPI series was labeled the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge and stood at 3.419031824505426% year over year, while CPIAUCSL showed 3.7172508442689933%. UPI separately described the consumer price index as the Fed’s preferred measure when reporting September’s 3.7% rate.

Consumer pressure was not limited to borrowing costs. UPI cited elevated gas prices, which it attributed to the Iran war’s strain on the global fuel supply, as another pressure on consumers.

September’s inflation reading was not the only sign of economic strain cited by UPI. New job hires slowed to 29,000 for the month, down from 162,000 in August.