Fed Chair Jerome Powell has indicated that further rate cuts this year aren’t certain and that it will depend on the incoming data. This comes amid concerns of rising inflation and a softening labor market at the same time. Meanwhile, the Bitcoin price has dropped amid the Fed Chair’s press conference.
Jerome Powell Says No Rush To Make Further Rate Cuts
During his FOMC press conference, the Fed Chair said that he doesn’t feel the need to move quickly on rate cuts and that they were right to wait until now to lower interest rates. He further remarked that one could think of today’s rate cut as a risk management cut.
As CoinGape reported, the FOMC made the first Fed rate cut this year following today’s meeting, lowering interest rates by 25 basis points (bps). The Federal Reserve’s economic projections also suggested that the committee is likely to make an additional 50 bps cut by year-end.
However, Jerome Powell has now indicated that these cuts are far from certain. The Fed Chair remarked that the markets are pricing in a rate path, although he is not blessing this part. He added that they are in a meeting-by-meeting situation and that they are going to be looking at the data to determine their next move.
The Bitcoin price dropped amid the Fed Chair’s speech. TradingView data showed that the flagship crypto sharply dropped from around $116,000 following the rate cut decision to below $115,000 during the speech. BTC is now hovering at around $115,500.
Fed In A Tight Spot Regarding Its Dual Mandate
Jerome Powell’s speech again showed that the Fed is in a tight spot regarding its dual mandate of inflation and employment. The Fed Chair stated that inflation has risen recently and remains somewhat elevated. This was evident in the August CPI data, which showed that inflation rose to 2.9% year-on-year (YoY) last month.
The Fed Chair also mentioned that payroll job gains have slowed significantly and are now running below the breakeven rate. He added that they can no longer say that the labor market is solid.
However, regarding inflation, Jerome Powell admitted that the risk of higher inflation is less than they were in April, when Trump first announced the Tariffs. He also remarked that the base case is that the tariff’s impact on inflation will be short-lived.
The Fed Chair stated that the economy is not in a bad state, although it has slowed down. Meanwhile, he concluded by saying, “Risks to inflation are tilted to the upside, and risks to employment are tilted to the downside, a challenging situation.”