According to a recent article by Nick Timiraos, Federal Reserve Chairperson Jerome Powell said today that the recent slowdown in inflation and economic activity is generally in line with the Federal Reserve's expectations, but he still refused to say whether this is a reason for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at its policy meeting later this month. The inflation report released last week showed that the economy is generally improving, which has prompted some private analysts to wonder whether the Federal Reserve needs to wait until September to cut interest rates. It should be noted that Powell's Federal Reserve usually avoids surprising the market with short-term policy decisions, so from this perspective, today's Powell's wording does not change the expectation that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates stable at its August meeting.