- A rate cut could be on the table as soon as September, if inflation continues to progress toward the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said at his post-monetary policy decision press conference.
- In the labor market, supply and demand have come into better balance and have returned to about where they were before the pandemic — “strong, but not overheated,” he said.
- Earlier today, the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee kept its benchmark rate at 5.25%-5.50%, a level that it has stayed at since July of last year.
- The second quarter’s data has strengthened confidence that inflation is heading sustainably toward the Fed’s 2% goal, he added. It’s waiting for additional data to further strengthen that confidence before the FOMC reduces the federal funds rate target range.
- “We have made no decisions about future meetings, and that includes the September meeting,” he said.