Powell speech: We moved quickly to get to here, going forward we will move slower

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell explains the decision to cut the policy rate, federal funds rate, by 25 basis points to the range of 4.25%-4.5% after the December meeting and responds to questions in the post-meeting press conference.

Key quotes

"We do think labor market is still cooling, watching it closely."

"Labor market is not cooling in a way that raises concerns."

"We are in a new phase in the process."

"We are still meaningfully restrictive, closer to neutral, appropriate to move cautiously."

"We've done a lot to support economic activity."

"From now we are in a place where we need to see progress on inflation."

"We moved quickly to get to here, going forward we will move slower."