The annual conference of central bankers and others engaged with economics at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, from Aug. 21-23, has been especially noteworthy. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated more clearly than in the past that a cut in interest rates is likely at the September meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee .

Powell, skillful at opaque Fed-speak, nonetheless signaled that a simulative change is likely. He was specific in reference to revised employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicating that job creation this year has been considerably below what was reported earlier.

This is particularly newsworthy in part because Powell has been consistent heretofore in giving emphasis to the priority need to restrain inflation. Cutting rates tends to spur i

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