Six months into the roll out of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, inflation, coupled with chronically high cost of building U.S. transportation projects, is proving to be the biggest challenge. And the longer it takes to spend the money, the more cost pressures threaten to swallow the once-in-a-generation level of funding. “Externally our biggest headwind is the current economic environment,” said Katie Thomson, director of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Implementation at the U.S. Department of Transportation, speaking Wednesday during a webinar on the six-month anniversary of the IIJA hosted by the Eno Center on Transportation. Source: The Bond Buyer

Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said she supports raising interest rates by 75 basis points again in July and following that with a few more half-point hikes. The hawkish remarks Thursday come roughly a week after the central bank delivered the largest rate increase since 1994. Fed officials are sending a strong signal that they will do what is needed to rein in soaring inflation, while acknowledging that it’s becoming more challenging for them to achieve a soft landing on the economy. Source: The Bond Buyer

Municipals outperformed (dropped in yield more than) moves in U.S. Treasuries Thursday, playing catch up to taxables' massive flight-to-safety rally that hit Wednesday, while equities ended in the black. Municipal triple-A yield curves saw up to 10 basis point bumps on the long end while UST saw yields fall four to eight basis points. Source: The Bond Buyer