Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will address the annual summit at the Kansas City Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole symposium
Wall Street bankers, economists, businesses, and households will get a glimpse of the US Federal Reserve’s broader outlook on interest rates for the year this morning at Chair Jerome Powell’s keynote address in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Powell will deliver his most anticipated speech of the year, in which he is expected to hint at whether the central bank will ease interest rates.
This year’s summit is particularly significant.
Economists have been expecting a rate cut in September, and it seems like a possibility after the US Labor Department said it added ~28% fewer jobs in the 12 months ending March than previously reported. The Fed has also seen inflation cool, which is currently at 2.9% (above the Fed’s 2% target but below the June 2022 peak of 9.1%).
Interest rates are currently between 5.25% and 5.5%.
With inflation close to the Fed’s target, several analysts are expecting a half-percentage-point reduction in rates in September.