Federal Reserve Chairman Powell: The Federal Reserve no longer expects the US economy to enter a recession internally, achieving market | unemployment rate | growth | Powell | inflation | target | economy
At 2am Beijing time on July 27th, the Federal Reserve announced a 25 basis point increase in the target range of the federal funds rate from 5% -5.25% to 5.25% -5.5%, the highest in 22 years and in line with market expectations. This is the 11th rate hike by the Federal Reserve since March last year.
Looking ahead to the economic outlook, Powell expressed hope that the economy can achieve a "soft landing"; That is, a decrease in inflation, a relatively low unemployment rate, and the avoidance of economic recession.
"Federal Reserve staff are now predicting a significant slowdown in economic growth starting later this year, but considering the recent resilience of the economy, they are no longer predicting an economic recession." Powell said, believing that there is a "real opportunity" to bring inflation back to target without causing significant unemployment.
"My basic assumption is that the 2% inflation target can be achieved without a significant increase in unemployment," Powell said. "But one thing to be certain is that there is still a long way to go, and we still have a lot to do. Reducing inflation may require a period of growth below trend and a certain degree of weakness in the labor market."