On the 19th, Fed = Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, which is the central bank of the United States, pointed out that the slowdown in inflation and the tightening of the labor market continued to ease, and indicated that he would carefully judge additional interest rate hikes based on future economic indicators.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell gave a speech in New York on the 31th ahead of the meeting to decide monetary policy from March 19.
In his speech, Chairman Jerome Powell said, "The slowdown in inflation since this summer is a very positive trend."
He also expressed the view that the tight labor market, such as labor shortages, which are a cause of inflation, was gradually calming down.
On the other hand, he pointed out that economic growth has consistently exceeded expectations, such as the retail sales for September announced on September 17 far exceeding market expectations.
He added that new data showing continued economic growth and tight labor markets could justify further monetary tightening.
He expressed his intention to carefully assess future economic indicators and make a cautious judgment on additional interest rate hikes, while balancing the risk of excessive monetary tightening that would have an unnecessary negative impact on the economy and the risk that insufficient monetary tightening would entrench inflation.