03:10 PM EST, 01/29/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Federal Open Market Committee does not need to be in rush to lower interest rate given the pace of inflation remains elevated and the labor market does not appear to be slowing, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday in a press conference after the rate-setting meeting.

"We do not need to be in a hurry" to lower rates, Powell told reporters, reiterating that policy is not on a preset course. The chairman said that "it would not be appropriate" to discuss President Donald Trump's demands that the FOMC should lower rates. Powell said that he has had no contact with the president.

The FOMC maintained the range of its policy rate at 4.25% to 4.50% at this week's meeting, as widely expected.

However, the FOMC made small changes to its statement that showed inflation remains elevated, while removing an acknowledgement of progress, while at the same time saying that labor market conditions are solid rather than easing and that the unemployment rate has stabilized at a low rate.

Powell repeated that the labor market is not a main source of inflation pressures, so it is not necessary for employment to weaken further to bring down inflation further.

The FOMC has begun its every-five-year review of monetary policy, with plans to have it finished by late-summer, but Powell said that the Fed's 2% inflation target is not being reviewed and will remain intact.

Some analysts and market participants have suggested that the FOMC should raise the target to 2.5%, or even 3%, making it easier to reach in times of heightened inflation.