"We may be entering a period of more frequent, and potentially more persistent, supply shocks—a difficult challenge for the economy and for central banks," Powell said in opening remarks at a two-day conference reconsidering the Fed's current approach to monetary policy, adopted in 2020 as the economy was still scarred by the pandemic.

Recent economic trends point to the possibility that the Federal Reserve will have to grapple with sudden shocks to the supply of goods and commodities in the coming years, which is a difficult challenge for the economy and the central bank,