Powell: Despite the lack of updated data, the U.S. economy appears to be holding steady

Federal Reserve Chairperson Jerome Powell has said the U.S. economy appears to be in a stable position despite a lack of updated data due to the ongoing government shutdown. "Based on the data we have, it's fair to say that the outlook for employment and inflation does not appear to have changed much since our September meeting four weeks ago," Powell said in remarks to economists on Tuesday. However, in response to questions about the government shutdown, he added: "If this continues for a while, we will start to miss these data, especially the October data." On the economy, Powell repeated a theme in recent remarks, saying that "no policy path is risk-free amid the tension between employment and inflation targets." Powell also said that the Federal Reserve could also reach a point in the coming months where it could end its efforts to shrink its balance sheet.