25 or 50 basis points will depend on coming economic data: Powell

January US job openings dip, but still high at 10.8 million

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stressed that policymakers had not yet made up their minds on the size of their interest-rate increase later this month and said it would hinge on incoming data on jobs and inflation.

“We have not made any decision about the March meeting,” Powell told the House Financial Services committee on Wednesday during his second day of testimony before Congress. 

“We are not on a pre-set path and upcoming data will help determine whether a 25 basis point or 50 basis point rate rise will be needed at the officials’ next gathering,” Powell said. The Fed chief repeated