PT Solid Gold Berjangka | Powell Says Recent Data Raise Confidence Inflation on Path to 2%
Federal Reserve The Fed Jerome Powell PT SGB Solid Group SG Berjangka Solid Gold Berjangka
Solid Gold Berjangka | Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that second-quarter economic data have given policymakers confidence that inflation is falling to the central bank’s 2% target, which could pave the way for a short-term rate cut.
Chairman Powell pointed to three recent inflation indicators, including last week’s, but made clear that he did not intend to send a specific message about the timing of a rate cut.
In an interview with David Rubenstein at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., on Monday, Chairman Powell said, “We didn’t get any additional confidence in the first quarter, but the three second quarter numbers, including last week’s, do boost confidence somewhat.
‘Now that inflation is down and the labor market has actually cooled, we’re going to look at both mandates. The balance between the two is much better.
So if we see unexpected weakness in the labor market, that could be a reason for us to react,” Chairman Powell added.
The remarks signal a recent shift in tone among Chairman Powell and some Fed officials toward emphasizing potential risks to the labor market while continuing to focus on declining inflation. While the U.S. economy is adding jobs at a solid pace and unemployment is low, the labor market is showing signs of cooling.
This trend, along with improving inflation data, increases the likelihood that the Fed will soon begin cutting its key policy rate, which for nearly a year has kept borrowing costs at their highest level in more than two decades.
Source: Bloomberg