Fed Chair Powell: Interest rates likely won’t return to “historically low levels” before the pandemic
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As Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell and other officials at the central bank consider cutting interest rates later this year, there’s a lot to chew on. On the one hand, the labor market remains strong, inflation is trending down, and the economy appears to be on course for the much sought-after soft landing. On the other, prices rose at a slightly faster rate in February than they did the month prior, suggesting that reaching the Fed’s 2% inflation rate goal may take a while longer.
Powell spoke with “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy Conference, where they discussed the state of the economy and the path ahead. Below is an edited transcript of their conversation.
