Two years later let's check how the government is deploying nearly a trillion dollars

I'm David Brancatio first tomorrow's the big hiring and unemployment reports for the month just ended at yesterday's Federal Reserve briefing.

It went according to expectations.

Central bankers left interest rates alone, but they dropped a strong hint.

Rates will go down in September.

Marketplace is Nancy Marshall Genser.

Was at the briefing, Nancy.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell says it won't be appropriate to cut interest rates

until officials are more confident that inflation is moving sustainably

toward the Fed's 2% goal. But some ex-fed officials like the former president of

the New York Fed think the Central Bank is risking a recession by keeping rates high.

Powell told me it's a delicate balancing act.

If the Fed lowers rates too soon, it could re-ignite inflation.

So I think it's a difficult judgment to make, and what you see is the judgment of the committee is that that time is drawing near that time could be in September if the data support that.

As it weighs a September rate cut, Powell says the Fed is ready to respond if the economy wobbles or unemployment bumps up rapidly.

If we are to respond to weakness, we're certainly well equipped to do that.

But that's not what we're seeing.

What we're seeing is strong economic activity

and good labor market and inflation coming down.

The Fed does have a dual mandate battling inflation down to 2% but also maximizing employment, getting as many people

working as possible. In its statement yesterday, the Fed said it's, quote, attentive to the risks

to both sides of its mandate.

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