‘The time has come’: The Fed just sent a crucial message about its next move

America’s top central banker has unambiguously signaled that lower interest rates are finally on the horizon, marking a crucial milestone for the Federal Reserve’s historic — and, so far, successful — inflation fight.

America’s top central banker has unambiguously signaled that lower interest rates are finally on the horizon, marking a crucial milestone for the Federal Reserve’s historic — and, so far, successful — inflation fight. “The time has come for policy to adjust,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in prepared remarks for his keynote speech at an annual gathering of central bankers and economists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “We will do everything we can to support a strong labor market as we make further progress toward price stability.” The Fed chief also expressed confidence in the US economy’s ability to pull off a so-called soft landing, an extremely rare outcome in which inflation is tamed without a sharp rise in unemployment. Such an achievement has only happened once, in the mid-1990s. “With an appropriate dialing back of policy restraint, there is good reason to think that the economy will get back to 2% inflation while maintaining a strong labor market,” he said. Markets responded positively to Powell’s comments, with all three major indexes moving higher Friday. “Powell has rung the bell for the start of the cutting cycle,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, in a note Friday.