Powell says the Fed doesn’t need to be ‘in a hurry’ to reduce interest rates
鲍威尔说，美联储不需要“急于”降息
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Thursday that strong U.S. economic growth will allow policymakers to take their time in deciding how far and how fast to lower interest rates.
美国联邦储备委员会主席鲍威尔星期四说，美国强劲的经济增长将使政策制定者有足够的时间来决定降息的幅度和速度。
“The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates,” Powell said in remarks for a speech to business leaders in Dallas. “The strength we are currently seeing in the economy gives us the ability to approach our decisions carefully.”
鲍威尔在达拉斯对商界领袖发表讲话时表示：“经济没有发出任何我们需要急于降息的信号。”“我们目前看到的经济实力使我们有能力谨慎地做出决定。”
In an upbeat assessment of current conditions, the central bank leader called domestic growth “by far the best of any major economy in the world.”
在对当前形势的乐观评估中，这位央行行长称国内增长“是迄今为止世界上主要经济体中最好的”。
Specifically, he said the labor market is holding up well despite disappointing job growth in October largely that he attributed to storm damage in the Southeast and labor strikes. Nonfarm payrolls increased by just 12,000 for the period.
具体来说，他说，尽管10月份就业增长令人失望，但劳动力市场表现良好，他认为这主要是由于东南部的风暴破坏和工人罢工。同期，非农就业人数仅增加了1.2万人。
Powell noted that the unemployment rate has been rising but has flattened out in recent months and remains low by historical standards.
鲍威尔指出，失业率一直在上升，但最近几个月已经趋于平稳，按历史标准衡量仍处于低位。
On the question of inflation, he cited progress that has been “broad based,” noting that Fed officials expect it to continue to drift back towards the central bank’s 2% goal. Inflation data this week, though, showed a slight uptick in both consumer and producer prices, with 12-month rates pulling further away from the Fed mandate.
在通胀问题上，他提到了“基础广泛”的进展，并指出美联储官员预计通胀将继续向央行2%的目标靠拢。不过本周公布的通胀数据显示，消费者物价和生产者物价均略有上升，12个月期利率进一步远离美联储的目标。
Still, Powell said the two indexes are indicating inflation by the Fed’s preferred measure at 2.3% in October, or 2.8% excluding food and energy.
不过，鲍威尔说，这两个指数显示，10月份美联储偏爱的通胀指标为2.3%，剔除食品和能源后的通胀率为2.8%。
“Inflation is running much closer to our 2 percent longer-run goal, but it is not there yet. We are committed to finishing the job,” said Powell, who noted that getting there could be “on a sometimes-bumpy path.”
“通货膨胀率正在接近我们2%的长期目标，但还没有达到。我们致力于完成这项工作，”鲍威尔说。他指出，实现这一目标的道路可能“有时会崎岖不平”。
The remarks come a week after the Federal Open Market Committee lowered the central bank’s benchmark borrowing rate by a quarter percentage point, pushing it down into a range between 4.5%-4.75%. That followed a half-point cut in September.
一周前，美国联邦公开市场委员会（fomc）将基准借款利率下调了0.25个百分点，将其下调至4.5%-4.75%的区间。这是继9月份降息0.5个基点之后的又一次降息。
Powell has called the moves a recalibration of monetary policy that no longer needs to be focused primarily on stomping out inflation and now has a balanced aim at sustaining the labor market as well. Markets largely expect the Fed to continue with another quarter-point cut in December and then a few more in 2025.
鲍威尔称这些举措是对货币政策的重新调整，不再需要把重点放在抑制通胀上，现在也有了维持劳动力市场的平衡目标。市场普遍预计美联储将在12月继续降息25个基点，然后在2025年再降息几次。
However, Powell was noncommittal when it came to providing his own forecast. The Fed is seeking to guide its key rate down to a neutral setting that neither boosts nor inhibits growth, but is not sure what the end point will be.
然而，当谈到他自己的预测时，鲍威尔并没有明确表态。美联储正寻求将其关键利率下调至既不促进也不抑制经济增长的中性水平，但不确定终点是什么。
“We are confident that with an appropriate recalibration of our policy stance, strength in the economy and the labor market can be maintained, with inflation moving sustainably down to 2 percent,” he said. “We are moving policy over time to a more neutral setting. But the path for getting there is not preset.”
他说：“我们相信，通过适当调整我们的政策立场，经济和劳动力市场可以保持强劲，通胀将持续降至2%。”“随着时间的推移，我们正在将政策转向更中性的环境。但通往那里的道路并不是预设的。”
The Fed also has been allowing proceeds from its bond holdings to roll off its mammoth balance sheet each month. There have been no indications of when that process might end.
美联储还允许其持有债券的收益每月从其庞大的资产负债表上滚落。目前还没有迹象表明这一进程何时会结束。
CNBC
