Federal Reserve's Powell: Positive about 2025 Outlook, No Need for Previous Tightening Measures

BlockBeats News, January 4th, Federal Reserve's Powell said in a speech that his basic outlook for 2025 is positive: "I expect the upside risks to economic growth to be greater than the downside risks." He added that the expectations for economic expansion may be the reason for the recent rebound in business optimism. Part of the reason for his optimistic economic outlook is his belief that the momentum of consumer spending growth may continue to support healthy economic growth in the coming months. Powell stated: "Due to the high level of business optimism and the unlikely continued strong growth in labor supply, the current labor market balance is more likely to shift towards hiring rather than layoffs." He also predicted that the recent focus on cost-conscious consumers in recent months will pressure businesses to limit price increases, which should continue to suppress inflation. However, he also pointed out that the inflation rate has not yet returned to the Fed's 2% target: "We still have more work to do, but we believe that restrictive measures like those taken in the past are not necessary to accomplish this task." (FXStreet)