Powell speech: Wages have been moderating without softening in labor market

FOMC Chairman Jerome Powell testifies on the Semi-annual Monetary Policy Report before the US Senate Banking Committee.

Key quotes

"We are seeing goods inflation coming down for some time now."

"Housing services inflation coming down is in the pipeline for the next 6–12 months."

"But core services ex-housing is where the challenge is now."

"We can't impact that sector without affecting others."

"Our tools are powerful but blunt."

"Wages have been moderating without softening in labor market."

"We have many unusual factors affecting inflation and we don't think anyone knows how this is going to play out."

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index retreated slightly following the initial upsurge but holds comfortably in positive territory. As of writing, the pair was up 0.77% on the day at 105.10.