Scott Horsley

Kevin Warsh has experience at the Federal Reserve, having served on the central bank's governing board during the Bush and Obama administrations.

Back then, Warsh was considered a hawk with a worried eye on inflationary pressures, even when unemployment neared 10 percent.

Still, Trump is counting on Warsh to bring lower interest rates.

If confirmed by the Senate, Warsh would replace Jerome Powell, whose term as Fed chairman ends in May.

Wholesale inflation in December was higher than expected.

The Labor Department says wholesale prices rose 0.5% during the month and were up 3% for the year.

Asian stocks were mixed overnight, up in Seoul but down in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

Good morning.

Not entirely.

We're still seeing pretty weak hiring in the job market.

Just this week, Amazon and UPS announced big layoffs.

That said, unemployment is still relatively low, just 4.4% in December.

And

The Fed says there are some signs that the unemployment rate is stabilizing.

So for the moment, the central bank is putting its focus on inflation and prices that are still going up faster than Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues would like.

Inflation was more like 3% in December, according to the Fed's preferred yardstick.

And Powell says a big reason for that overshoot is President Trump's tariffs.

Now, U.S.

importers have absorbed some of the tariff costs so far.