Fed Chair Jerome Powell talks labor markets at Nashville conference

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Fed Chair Jerome Powell talks labor markets at Nashville conference

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell focused on inflation, interest rate cuts and the cooling labor market while addressing hundreds of economists and business leaders at the National Association for Business Economics conference in Nashville Monday.

“This is not a committee that feels like it’s in a hurry to cut rates quickly,” Powell said, during the luncheon address for NABE’s 66th annual conference “Finding Harmony in the Noise: Transitioning to a New Normal” at the Grand Hyatt Nashville.

His Nashville speech comes nearly two weeks after the Federal Reserve lowered its interest rate by a half percentage point on Sept. 18 — the first rate cut in four years. Powell said Monday that, as of the cut earlier this month, the Fed is looking at two more cuts through the end of the year that would total half a percentage point.

Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell, speaks during the National Association for Business Economics meeting at Grand Hyatt Nashville in Nashville , Tenn., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024.

Powell said U.S. economic fundamentals are strong and the Fed’s much-discussed “soft landing” is still in sight, meaning that inflation could continue to cool without a spike in unemployment. However, unemployment has risen notably in recent months.

“It’s a reflection of our growing confidence that inflation is moving sustainably down to 2%,” Powell said. “If the economy performs as expected then that would mean we will have two more rate cuts this year. We’ll be asking ourselves: ‘Is our policy stance in place best to achieve our goals?’ We’re recalibrating policy to maintain the strength in the economy, not because of weakness in the economy.”

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