Biden, Powell meet to discuss record inflation, Fed chairman's plans to slow pace

President Biden will meet Tuesday with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, with record-level inflation now a major concern for U.S. households.

The meeting will be the first since Biden renominated Powell to lead the central bank and as the price of gas and food rank among households' biggest concerns.

The White House told the Associated Press said the pair would discuss the state of the U.S. and global economy and especially inflation.

The meeting also comes one day after Biden's op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in which he said "tackling inflation (is) my top economic priority."

Inflation in the U.S. hit a 40-year high earlier this year, in part the result of supply chain constraints caused by the global economy’s recovery from the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In addition, the federal government putting trillions into the U.S. economy during the pandemic, and Americans have extra spending cash while working from home, has overheated the economy.

Biden has argued that low unemployment and job growth show as "healthy economy" recovering from the pandemic.

Powell's plans to increase the Fed's key short-term interest rate to cool the economy. However, those rate hikes have sparked concerns that the Fed, in its effort to slow borrowing and spending, may push the economy into a recession, the wire service also reports.