Interest Rate Increases Will Hinge on Data, Powell Says

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that further interest rate hikes would hinge on February hiring and inflation reports due for release over the next week. The results of those reports would determine whether the central bank increases the federal funds rate by a half percentage point at its meeting later this month. Officials stated last month that by moving in smaller increments, they could better assess the impact of last year’s rapid rate increases and reduce the risk of raising rates too high. Powell added that “nothing about the data suggests to me that we’ve tightened too much.”