02:13 PM EDT, 07/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Monday that the three inflation readings in Q2 did "add somewhat to confidence" that inflation is heading down to the 2% target.

"I would say we didn't gain any additional confidence in the first quarter, but the three readings in the second quarter, including the one from last week, do add somewhat to confidence," Powell said in an interview at the Economic Club of Washington DC.

The data from last week that Powell was referring to were released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing the US seasonally adjusted consumer price index declined by 0.1% month over month in June.

"We've had now three better readings and if you average them, that's a pretty good pace," Powell said.