Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will headline a busy week of central-bank officials’ public remarks on Thursday. Investors and economists will be listening closely for clues about the Fed’s interest rate decision for December and the outlook for policy in 2025.

Ongoing economic growth, a solid job market, and inflation that remains above the 2% target means the U.S. central bank does not need to rush to lower interest rates and can deliberate carefully, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday.

When the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point in September, it wasn't a particularly surprising move. At that point, the Fed was expected to make its first rate cut of the year in response to cooling inflation.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that interest rates are still expected to decline further, but suggested they might not be that much lower over the next few months.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the recent performance of the US economy has been “remarkably good,” giving central bankers room to lower interest rates at a careful pace.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that the economy is in a good place, with inflation on a sustainable path back to the central bank’s 2% target, and that he expects inflation to continue to come down on a “sometimes bumpy” path.

Chair Jerome Powell says the Federal Reserve will likely cut its key interest rate slowly and deliberately in the coming months, in part because inflation has shown signs of persistence and the Fed’s

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said recent signs of economic health would allow the central bank to take its time in deciding how quickly to continue reducing interest rates. “The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates,