Powell says February PCE inflation data is “more in line with what we want to see.”

“It’s good to see something that is in line with expectations,” Powell said in an interview at the San Francisco Fed.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the inflation data for February released early Friday were “more in line with what we want to see.”

“It’s good to see something that is in line with expectations,” Powell said in an interview at the San Francisco Fed.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index rose by 0.3% last month, reported the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce on Friday. Data for January was revised upward to show an increase of 0.4%, instead of 0.3%.

However, Powell indicated that the February report did not undermine the Fed’s baseline outlook.

Some details of the PCE data, economists noted, did show improvement in aspects of inflation that the Fed considers important, despite the headline figures showing little progress in the first two months of the year.

Last week, the Federal Reserve kept its overnight benchmark interest rate in the range of 5.25%-5.50% and also narrowly reaffirmed a benchmark projection that the rate would fall by 0.75 percentage points in the year.

In recent weeks, Powell has had to reconcile expectations that rate cuts will begin this year with data showing that the improvement in inflation figures has slowed at the beginning of the year.

“We need to see more” progress on inflation before cutting rates, he said on Friday.

“The decision to start reducing rates is very, very important… The economy is strong right now, and the labor market is solid right now. And inflation has been coming down. We can and will be careful with this decision because we can be.”