Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that he continues to look at the overall progress that inflation has made in moving back toward the central bank’s 2% target. While the bank’s latest statement did leave out a December reference to strides made in the fight against inflation,

The Fed said the job market is “solid,” and noted that the unemployment rate “has stabilized at a low level in recent months.”

Last month, Fed officials signaled they expect just two rate cuts for all of 2025, a shallower path of reductions than previously anticipated. Policymakers will update their projections on the economy and rates at their next meeting in March. This month’s pause in rate cuts comes amid increasing uncertainty about how inflation will evolve.

After three cuts at the end of last year, Federal Reserve officials paused rate moves as they weigh a solid economy and rising inflation risks. Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, said the central bank was not on a “pre-set course.

Powell made clear that Fed policymakers are in no rush to reduce interest rates further, after lowering borrowing costs by a full percentage point in the final months of 2024. Whe

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said “we do not need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance” and monetary policy is “well positioned” for the challenges at hand.

Fed officials want downward pressure on the economy to ensure inflation cools to 2 per cent target. Read more at straitstimes.com.

In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump vowed to stop inflation himself with regulatory cuts, increasing energy production, and rebalancing trade. “If the Fed had spent less time on DEI, gender ideology,

The US Fed held rates steady, reaffirming its independence despite President Donald Trump’s demands for cuts. Fed Chair Jerome Powell dismissed political pressure, while Trump accused the Fed of failing to control inflation.