12:24 PM EDT, 03/29/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The Federal Open Market Committee can afford to be patient when considering rate cuts given the strength of the economy, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday in a moderated discussion at the San Francisco Fed's Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy Conference.

Powell repeated that it would not be appropriate to lower rates until the FOMC sees "more good inflation readings," noting that the February personal consumption price measures released Friday morning, the Fed's preferred series, were in line with expectations and moving in the right direction toward the Fed's 2% inflation goal.

PCE prices rose by 0.3% in February, lifting the year-over-year rate to 2.5% from 2.4% in the previous month. Core PCE prices also rose by 0.3% in the month, but the year-over-year rate slowed to 2.8% to 2.9%.

But Powell also cautioned that the FOMC does not overreact to either good or bad data and will continue to monitor the incoming information.

"We will be careful about this decision because we can be," Powell said, adding that the FOMC is prepared to address anything unexpected as the economy evolves and noting that there are risks to easing rates too early or too late.

Political considerations and fiscal policy do not play a part in the Fed's decision, Powell repeated, saying that monetary policy decisions are not meant to serve one particular group or political party.

"We are in a good place," Powell said, referring to slowing inflation and low unemployment, and said that the FOMC is committed to continuing that progress and is not likely to lower rates to where they were before the pandemic.

"I don't think that rates will go back to the very historically-low levels that they were at before the pandemic," Powell said. "I do think that rates will come down from-are likely to be lower than they are, at least short-term rates, than they are right now. But we are going to have to let the data tell us the answer to that."