Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell delivered a clear message Wednesday: The economy is doing great.
Powell began his press conference by saying that he wanted to speak in “plain English.” He then proceeded to do so by stating that the “main takeaway is that the economy is doing very well. Most people who want to find jobs are finding them, and unemployment and inflation are low.”
Powell then went on to state repeatedly that the economy is doing well, in blunt and unguarded terms that stood out from the typical cautious Fed-speak past central bankers have used.
“The decision you see today is another sign that the U.S. economy is in great shape,” Powell said of the Fed’s decision to raise rates.
“I would say that the economy’s in great shape,” he responded when a reporter asked what he would tell workers eager for wage increases.
“Overall, we have a really solid economy on our hands here,” he added, explaining that his goal is to sustain it.
Asked if the increasing number of trade conflicts could upset the recovery, Powell again emphasized the health of the economy.
“We don’t see it in the numbers yet, we really don’t,” he said about the fallout from the threat of tariffs. “We see a really strong economy across a bunch of fronts.”
Early in the press conference, Powell said his goal is to foster more public conversations about the Fed. He also said that, starting next year, he would hold a press conference after each of the Fed’s eight monetary policy meetings each year, rather than after every other meeting.
Following Wednesday’s monetary policy decision, Fed officials released upgraded economic projections showing that they expect growth in the gross domestic product to clock in at 2.8 percent this year. That is better than they previously guessed, even if none of the officials currently expect that the economy will hit the 3 percent target set by President Trump.
On the other hand, the Fed sees all good news as far as jobs are concerned. The officials now see the unemployment rate falling from 3.8 percent today, the lowest in decades, to as low as 3.5 percent next year.
