Jerome Powell Testimony

On Tuesday, the new head of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, made a regular semi-annual report to the US Congress. This is his second appearance as Fed Chairman. The report or testimony of the head of the Fed on the state of the economy and monetary policy will come out within two days with the second statement slated to be reported on Wednesday, July 18.

What did the head of the Fed say? He said that the US economy is in strong shape and GDP growth for the second quarter is expected with a significant increase compared to the first quarter (data will be released at the end of July).

The main success of the Federal Reserve is a strong labor market. Unemployment is about 4%, the lowest level since 1999, unemployment in the generally problematic population groups: young people, African Americans, and Hispanics has significantly decreased.

Inflation reached an important milestone of 2% per annum. The total inflation fluctuates 2.3-2.9%, without gasoline at 2%.

The Fed is gradually turning the aim of the policy of rates on controlling inflation.

The Fed sees the best behavior for itself to continue to gradually raise the rate, but slowly and not faster than recent hikes, so as not to lower the growth rate.

The Fed notes the possible risks from the "trade wars", but is not ready to predict the consequences, and is closely monitoring the situation.