Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is giving remarks Wednesday afternoon after the nation’s central bank cut interest rates for the second time this year.
The committee responsible for setting borrowing costs cut the baseline interest rate to a range of 3.75 to 4 percent, a reduction of 0.25 percentage points.
Powell faced months of pressure from President Trump to lower the rate ahead of last month’s decision, despite uncertainty around the impact of the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs on foreign trading partners.
The latest rate drop comes as Washington faces an ongoing government shutdown, the second longest in U.S. history, and after consecutive dismal job reports put strain on the U.S. economy.
The press conference is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. EDT.
Watch the live video above.
