Hopeful signs of an economic 'soft landing' emerge in Jackson Hole as Fed meets with world watching
Business these days in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is still good — just not as robust as it was after the U.S. economy roared out of the pandemic recession
JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming — At the height of the post-pandemic economic recovery, Andy Parazette's taco shop enjoyed such a crush of business that customers sometimes had to wait an hour for a burrito.
Though Parazette welcomed the sales, the influx was unsustainable. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was absorbing a flood of visitors as Americans crowded into nearby Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks — outdoor sites seen as safe vacation spots. The uber-wealthy who owned area properties arrived, too, to ride out the pandemic.
“The COVID thing was unmanageable,” Parazette said of the summers of 2020 and 2021. “I'd never seen it like that before." Frustrated customers “were like, ‘I just wanted a burrito.' ”
This year, business is still good — just not as robust as it had been. Parazette's costs for beef and chicken have eased after spiking the past two years. It's not quite as hard to find workers. When he advertises a job opening, people actually apply for it.
“We've had our reprieve,” said Parazette, 54, who has owned Pica’s Taqueria with his wife, Danielle, for 22 years. “It's not necessarily a bad thing.”
As the Federal Reserve prepares to hold its annual economic conference in Jackson Hole on Friday and Saturday, its policymakers are trying to guide the U.S. economy toward something akin to what's happening in Jackson Hole. They have jacked up their key interest rate to a 22-year high to try to slow growth and bring inflation down to their 2% target. Consumer inflation, which peaked last year at 9.1%, is now 3.2%.
Even as they cool the economy, the Fed's policymakers
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