Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stressed on Friday that the central bank is not rushing to cut interest rates as policy uncertainty continues to affect markets. Speaking in New York, Powell stated, "We do not need to be in a hurry and are well-positioned to wait for greater clarity," according to Yahoo Finance.

During a Q&A session following his speech, Powell added, "The economy is fine. It doesn't need us to do anything, really, so we can wait and we should wait." His comments reflect the Fed's cautious approach amid changing economic signals.

February's jobs report showed 151,000 jobs added last month, exceeding January's 125,000. The unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.1% from 4%. Powell noted, "Smoothing over the month-to-month volatility, since September, employers have added a solid 191,000 jobs a month on average."

Powell addressed how Trump administration policies could impact the economy and monetary policy. "The new administration is implementing significant policy changes in four distinct areas: trade, immigration, fiscal policy, and regulation. It is the net effect of these policy changes that will matter for the economy."

The potential lifting of some Russian sanctions by the Trump administration adds another layer of uncertainty to the economic outlook. With the State Department and Treasury reportedly compiling a list of sanctions that could be removed, markets are watching for impacts on global trade and investment patterns as US-Russia relations shift.

The Fed Chair acknowledged that tariffs could cause some inflation, affecting exporters, importers, retailers, and consumers. If these effects significantly impact longer-term inflation expectations, "that would matter" for Fed policy decisions. Markets continued to price in three interest rate cuts following Friday's news.

Several major financial institutions including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley reduced their growth targets, citing anticipated effects of restrictive trade and immigration policies:

• Morgan Stanley lowered its full-year GDP target to 1.5% from 1.9%
• Economists now expect "slower growth, firmer inflation"
• ISM manufacturing prices reached their highest since June 2022

Despite recent concerns about growth and sentiment indicators, Powell maintained that the economy continues to grow "at a solid pace." He cautioned that "sentiment readings have not been a good predictor of consumption growth in recent years" and noted, "The path to sustainably returning inflation to our target has been bumpy, and we expect that to continue."