Thought Of The Week Powell’s Testimony, Jobs Report, OPEC Meeting After months of defending that inflation is “transitory”, Fed chair Jerome Powell told Congress on Tuesday that it is time to retire that word as it is proving more powerful and persistent than expected. Continued strength in goods spending, shortage of microchips and shipping squeeze have increased costs and pushed the consumer price index (CPI) persistently above Fed’s 2% inflation target. After Powell’s remarks, money markets are estimating that the Fed will hike as early as May. U.S employers added 210,000 jobs in November compared to expected 550,000. While the headline number disappointed, the report also showed that the unemployment rate had dropped, and the overall participation rate increased. Friday’s jobs report was not weak enough and it is unlikely to change the market’s view that the Fed could push up the timing of rate increases to tamp down...