Neel Kashkari wants to make one thing very clear: the labor market isn’t the villain in America’s inflation story. Not right now, anyway.

The Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank president told CNBC on May 28 that his attention is squarely on price stability, not employment. The labor market, in his view, is in “decent shape.” Inflation, on the other hand, is “simply much too high.”

The numbers tell the story

The US headline Consumer Price Index hit 3.8% in April 2026. Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.4% in the same month. That’s nearly double the Fed’s long-standing 2% target, a threshold that inflation has now exceeded for more than five years running.

Kashkari flagged the risk of inflation expectations becoming unanchored. He pointed to elevated energy and fertilizer prices as key culprits pushing costs higher across broader economic categories.

“I am focusing heavily on inflation… the labor market is in decent shape right now, while inflation is simply much too high.”

A new Fed chair and no rush to change course

Kashkari’s remarks came during the Bank of Japan-IMES Conference. Kevin Warsh has recently taken the helm as Federal Reserve Chair, a leadership transition that markets have been watching closely for any signal of a policy pivot.

Kashkari said it is “far too soon” to anticipate any adjustments in interest rates.

What this means for investors

With core CPI still running hot at 0.4% monthly gains and headline inflation at 3.8%, the math doesn’t support a dovish pivot anytime soon. Kashkari didn’t mention crypto or digital assets in his remarks. The key data points to watch from here are monthly CPI releases, any speeches from new Chair Warsh that signal his policy priorities, and the next FOMC meeting for clues about the committee’s collective appetite for rate changes.