FILE PHOTO: U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gestures during a press conference following the issuance of the Federal Open Market Committee's statement on interest rate policy in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 30, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
WASHINGTON: US Federal Reserve (Fed) chairman Jerome Powell (pic) used the central bank’s annual Wyoming research conference to promise inflation-fighting rigour when it was needed in 2022, then last year he came to the defence of the job market with promises of lower interest rates when the unemployment rate seemed on a steady rise.
In his valedictory speech to the conference before his term ends next May, Powell on Friday faces a choice between the two approaches at a time when incoming information has confounded his data-dependent strategy by pulling in both directions.
