© Reuters. SUBMIT PHOTO: White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jared Bernstein signs up with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre for the everyday press rundown at the White House in Washington, U.S. September 13, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
(Reuters) – The dispute in the Middle East and the interruption to shipping in the Red Sea have up until now had just “restricted” effect, White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Jared Bernstein stated on Friday, including that U.S. authorities will continue to keep track of the scenario.
International shipping business are preventing the Red Sea after increased attacks on vessels in the area amidst the dispute in between Israel and Hamas. The diversions to longer and less-traveled paths threaten to develop logistical logjams of the kind that added to increasing costs and inflation throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ll stay in touch with our partners to figure out any effects to rates and the effects to the supply chain,” Bernstein stated in a call with reporters following the U.S. Labor Department’s regular monthly tasks report. “What we’ve seen up until now is that the effect of the continuous dispute has actually had rather a restricted influence on energy rates.”
Bernstein stated the December labor market report revealed U.S. task development and wage gains were strong and constant with an economy that continues to recuperate from the pandemic-induced economic downturn.
When it comes to inflation, he stated, “we are on the course out of the woods, however our work is refrained from doing.”