Fed's Powell Says Policymakers Need More Evidence Before Rate Cut

(RTTNews) - Recent inflation data does suggest a disinflationary trend in the U.S. economy, but more evidence is needed before policymakers can cut interest rates, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday.

"We just want to understand that the levels that we're seeing are a true reading of underlying inflation," Powell said in a speech at a European Central Bank-sponsored central banking forum in Sintra, Portugal.

The annual rate of increase of Fed's preferred measure of inflation, the core PCE, slowed to 2.6 percent from 2.8 percent in May, official figures showed last week.

In June, the Fed left interest rates unchanged and projected just one rate cut for the rest of the year.