Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell explains the decision to leave the policy rate, federal funds rate, unchanged at the range of 5.25%-5.5% and responds to questions in the post-meeting press conference.

Key takeaways

"The labor market has come into better balance."

"We are maintaining our restrictive stance."

"We are attentive to risks on both sides of the dual mandate."

"Growth of consumer spending remains solid but has slowed."

"Investment in the housing sector stalled in the second quarter."

"The unemployment rate remains low."

"Data suggests the labor market has returned to where it was on the eve of the pandemic."

"A broad set of labor market indicators show it is strong but not overheated."