Us Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the country's inflation rate can fall without weakening its historically strong levelBigbuckhunterforsaleAt the expense of the job market.

"I don't think there is any reason why unemployment needs to rise to bring down inflation," Yellen said in a live Reuters interview on Thursday. She says there is no evidence that the labour market is so hot that wage pressures are a source of inflation. She assessed that the employment data were "in line" with the continued downward trend in inflation.

Thursday's data showed a slowdown in U. S. economic growth. Ms Yellen played down the report, saying "abnormal" factors held back growth. She said the economy continued to operate at full speed.

Ms Yellen said the biggest component of the rise in consumer prices was housing costs, which "I have no doubt" would weaken in the coming year.

Ms Yellen said rents had "stabilised and, in some cases, declined" and that this change would be reflected in the housing component of the consumer price index over time.

The former fed chairman declined to comment on the prospect of a rate cut, noting that her successor, Jerome Powell, had said policymakers needed more evidence to be sure that inflation would fall back to the 2 per cent target before easing policy.