Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said officials are not in a rush to lower interest rates, adding the central bank is pausing to see further progress on inflation following a string of rate reductions last year. Jerome Powell stressed that the Fed wants to see “serial readings” suggesting further progress on inflation.(Bloomberg) “We do not need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance,” Powell said Wednesday, noting that the economy remains strong and interest rates are no longer restraining the economy as much as they had been. The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to keep the federal funds rate in a range of 4.25%-4.5%, after lowering rates by a full percentage point in the final months of 2024. Strong economic growth coupled with a solid labor market allows officials to wait for further evidence of cooling inflation before adjusting rates again. It also offers them time to evaluate how President Donald Trump‘s policies on immigration, tariffs and taxes may impact the economy. “The committee is very much in the mode of …