WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Friday that the Fed is not expecting a U.S. or global recession. But it is monitoring a number of uncertainties, including trade conflicts, and will “act as appropriate to sustain the expansion.”
Powell gave an upbeat view of the U.S. economy during an appearance with Swiss National Bank Chairman Thomas Jordan in Switzerland. Powell says that trade policy is causing “some uncertainty” but that the U.S. consumer is in good shape.
“I would not see a recession as the most likely outcome for the United States or the global economy,” Powell said.
Powell was speaking at a conference sponsored by the Swiss Institute of International Studies at the University of Zurich in Switzerland.
It was his first public appearance since his remarks at the Fed’s annual monetary conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., on Aug. 23. Financial markets were eager to see whether Powell would provide any more clues about what the Fed will do at its next meeting on Sept. 17-18.
At its last meeting in July, the Fed cut rates for the first time in a decade, lowering its key policy rate to a new range of 2% to 2.25%.
However, President Donald Trump expressed unhappiness with the small move and has continued to attack Powell in a series of tweets since the July meeting, suggesting in one tweet that Powell should be considered an “enemy.’
Markets believe there is a near certainty that the Fed will cut rates for a second time at the September meeting with many private economists expecting at least one more rate cut after that.
