U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday the central bank needed to continue balancing the competing risks of high inflation and a weakening job market in coming interest rate decisions, even as his colleagues s take d out arguments on both side s of the policy divide.

“Near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the up side and risks to employment to the down side – a challenging situation,” Powell said in remarks that stuck close to language used last week when the central bank cut its benchmark rate a quarter of a percentage point. The current rate, in the range of 4% to 4.25%, is still con side red high enough to lean against price pressures in the economy, but “leaves us well positioned to respond to potential economic developments. Our pol

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