Fed chief Jerome Powell pivots toward 50 bps interest rate hikes

Jerome Powell is taking direct aim at strong demand that the central bank wants to cool

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell outlined his most aggressive approach to taming inflation to date, potentially endorsing two or more half percentage-point interest-rate increases while describing the labor market as overheated.

“I would say that 50 basis points will be on the table for the May meeting,” Powell said at an IMF-hosted panel on Thursday in Washington that he shared with European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and other officials. He said demand for workers is “too hot – you know, it is unsustainably hot.”

The Fed chief is taking direct aim at strong demand that the central bank wants to