Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the there is no sign of an overheating of the economy and that there is no clear sign inflation is accelerating beyond the Fed’s target. The economy is doing well, but not going wild, is the general message.
In addition, Powell adds conditionality to the current path of rate hikes. He says (emphasis added:
if the strong growth in income and jobs continues, further gradual increase in the target range for the federal funds rate will likely be appropriate
The conditionality, borrowing a page from ECB President Mario Draghi, shows some hesitance.
The Fed Chair said real wages have grown slowly for medium and low-income workers in recent decades. He did repeat some optimistic comments such as that there is a good reason to believe that the strong growth will continue. While the September rate hike is not in danger, Powell is less hawkish than usual. Under his leadership, the Fed has been more hawkish than under his predecessor Janet Yellen.
The US Dollar is falling.across the board. The EUR/USD reached a peak of 1.1639, the GBP/USD hit a high of 1.2881, and the USD/JPY slipped into negative territory for the day.
More: Is the US economy peaking out? Too many indicators are going in the wrong direction
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