Federal Reserve megaphone: Powell's shift hints that interest rate cuts are approaching

The "Fed Messenger" Nick Timiraos article points out that Federal Reserve Chairperson Jerome Powell said at a hearing on Tuesday that the trade-off between reducing inflation and maintaining a solid labor market is changing, a cautious but important shift that brings the Fed one step closer to cutting interest rates. "Rising inflation is not the only risk we face," Powell said. "We have seen a significant cooling in the labor market on many fronts. That is not the source of widespread inflationary pressure in the economy right now." The assessment is notable because Fed officials have long argued that overheating in the labor market is a major risk to the process of holding down inflation. Powell acknowledged that just two months ago, he would not have made such a judgment. In fact, Powell's comments at a conference in Portugal last week were also more cautious ahead of the Labor Department's June jobs report.