Yet Powell indicated during a press conference last month that the Fed, after cutting its key rate three times late last year, would hold off on further cuts as it waited for evidence that inflation is moving closer to its 2% target.
The Fed cut its key rate three times last year, to about 4.3% from 5.3%, but said in January that it would keep its rate unchanged until inflation declined further.
Fed officials in December had forecast that they would implement two cuts this year, but some economists now think the Fed may be on hold all year.
On Wednesday, the government reported that inflation picked up last month, with consumer prices rising 3% in January from a year earlier, up from a 3 1/2 year low of 2.4% in September.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's calls for lower interest rates won't lead the central bank to change its rate decisions.
