Fed spokesperson: Powell's shift suggests rate cuts are imminent

Nick Timiraos, the "Federal Reserve Mouthpiece", pointed out in his article that Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said at a hearing on Tuesday that the trade-off between reducing inflation and maintaining a solid labor market is changing. This cautious but important shift has brought the Fed one step closer to cutting interest rates. "Rising inflation is not the only risk we face," Powell said. "We have seen a clear cooling of the labor market in many ways. This is not the source of the current general inflationary pressure in the economy." This assessment is noteworthy because Federal Reserve officials have long believed that an overheated labor market is the main risk to the process of suppressing inflation. Powell admitted that he would not have made such a judgment just two months ago. In fact, Powell's comments at a meeting in Portugal last week before the U.S. Department of Labor released its June employment report were also more cautious.