03:05 PM EDT, 07/31/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The Federal Open Market Committee is getting closer to the point where it could cut rates, but it was not yet at that point this week, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told a press conference Wednesday after the FOMC.

Powell responded to an overwhelming expectation of a rate reduction at committee's Sept. 17-18 meeting by leaving the door open to that outcome, but not promising it, noting current monetary policy is "well-positioned" to deal with uncertainties to the outlook for both inflation and employment.

"If we were to see, for example, inflation moving down quickly or more or less in line with expectations, growth remains, let's say, reasonably strong. And the labor market remains, you know, consistent with its current condition, then I would think that a rate cut could be on the table at September meeting," he said.

However, Powell repeated the FOMC remains data-dependent, and that no decision has been made about any future meeting, including the September meeting.

"If inflation were to prove, you know, stickier and we were to see higher rates of inflation and disappointing readings, we would weigh that along with the other things," he said. "I think it is going to be not just any one thing. It is going to be the inflation data, the employment data, it is going to be the balance of risks as we see it. It is going to be the totality of all of that to help us make the decision."

The FOMC held the federal funds rate steady at 5.25% to 5.50% at Wednesday meeting, but shifted its language to indicate that more progress has been made on inflation and that job gains have slowed.

"The Committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals continue to move into better balance," the FOMC said in its policy statement after the meeting. "The economic outlook is uncertain, and the Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate."

Previously, the FOMC had said that it was "highly attentive" to inflation risks, so the change suggests a more heightened concern about the labor market.