Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Tom Barkin said April 3 current and historically low unemployment rates the past year continue to support his belief of an economy that is not in a recession. Inflation, however, is not going away anytime soon, he added.

Tom offered his comments at Guilford College’s inaugural Business Summit at the Koury Convention Center, which was attended by about 200 people including students, faculty and members of the wider community.

He said there are three underlying reasons inflation is persisting, chief of which is businesses are still dealing with an “economic dislocation” from the COVID-19 pandemic. “We've still got over a trillion dollars – and where I came from trillions is a big number – in excess savings and trillions more in equity and housing wealth, that are funding consumption.”

Second, Tom said many businesses are still intent on recapturing lost ground from the pandemic. Barkin said sectors like utilities, healthcare, and food, where margins have compressed over the past three years, now feel the need to push price increases.

The third reason is a little less quantifiable, he said. “We've had two years of high inflation and ubiquitous conversation about inflation, that surely has to have an impact on the behaviors of firms,” he said.

Tom’s insights were part of a larger panel discussion on the economy and its impact on North Carolina.  The panel included N.C. State Treasurer Dale Folwell, Alastair Hamilton, Senior Vice president of Business Development at Collins Aerospace, Byron Loflin, Global Head of Board Advisory for NASDAQ, and Hope Williams, President of North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities. 

Todd Hall, CEO and President of Truliant Federal Credit Union, a sponsor of the event, moderated the panel.

The summit was the brainchild of Ken Flynt and the Guilford Business Advisory Board.