The US economy has “slowed significantly” over the past year, continuing its cooler trend with modest first-quarter growth despite robust consumer spending, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at his post-FOMC meeting briefing.
The job market remains “very tight” but labor supply and demand have “become in a better balance,” he said.
Nominal wage growth has shown some signs of slowing down, but overall job vacancies are still far outstripping the available workforce, putting pressure on wages, he said.
Inflation has “slowed down somewhat” since the middle of last year, but “there is still a long way to go”. On the positive side, Mr Powell said inflation expectations remain “well anchored”.
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