China News Agency, New York, February 28 (Xinhua) Goldman Sachs raised its forecast for the U.S. inflation rate on February 28 and predicted that the number of times the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise the target range of the federal funds rate this year and next will reach 11 times.

　　On the same day, a team led by Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius said in a report to clients that by the end of 2022, the Fed’s core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index to measure inflation is expected to reach 3.7%, higher than previously The US core PCE price index will slow to 2.4% by the end of 2023, slightly higher than the previous forecast of 2.2%.

　　According to the report, if U.S. inflation remains at a high level in 2022, the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates steadily in the remaining seven monetary policy meetings this year.

Given that we have also raised our inflation forecast for the United States in 2023, it is expected that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates 4 times next year, higher than the previous forecast of 3 times, and the final terminal funds rate will be slightly higher than 2.75%-3%.

　　On Friday, data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce showed that the U.S. PCE price index rose 6.1% year-on-year in January, and the core PCE price index rose 5.2% year-on-year, the largest year-on-year increase since 1982.

Unadjusted spending in January rose 2.1% from December, while income was little changed.

　　Analysts at Goldman Sachs said U.S. inflation is now well above the Fed's 2 percent target, and it remains to be seen how much inflation can stabilize by the end of the year.

While the inflation surge in 2021 was largely driven by a supply-demand imbalance in durable goods affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, inflationary pressures have widened and intensified in recent months.

　　U.S. inflation expectations are likely to be raised again in the future if sharp changes in the situation in Ukraine trigger higher energy prices or supply chain disruptions, the report said.

The Goldman Sachs team will closely monitor indicators such as employment and prices.

　　On Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor will release the latest nonfarm payrolls data.

The median of a Bloomberg News survey of economists showed that the U.S. non-farm sector was forecast to add 400,000 jobs in February, with average hourly earnings rising 5.8 percent from a year earlier.

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