On that note, Powell says it's "really hard to say" whether there will be enough information to cut in September. Asked about the what the Fed is looking for in the data:
- "If you saw that the risks to the two goals were moving into balance, if they were fully in balance, that would imply that you should move toward a more neutral stance on policy. This is the special situation we are in, which is, we have two-sided risks... When we paused, inflation was above target and the labor market was pretty good.... As the two targets get back into balance, you would think you would move it in a way closer to neutral and the next steps that we take are likely to be in that direction.
- What will it take? It will be the totality of the evidence. As I mentioned, there's quite a lot of data coming in which before the next meeting, will it be dispositive of that? You know, it's really hard to say. We don't make those decisions right now. So, we will have to see."