A moment of clarity in the misty language of the future of interest rates.

I'm David Brancaccio in New York. The Federal Reserve is fixing to cut interest rates and we don't even have to use infrared night vision

goggles to discern the central bank's intentions. On Friday Fed Chair Jerome Powell

came out and just said it. Marketplace's Nancy Marshall Genser has more on what could come next.

Fetchar Powell was speaking at the Kansas City Fed's annual Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday.

He didn't say when the Fed would start cutting rates he didn't say by how much, but his message was clear.

The time has come for policy to adjust.

The direction of travel is clear and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.

There will be a lot of data over the next couple of weeks.

This Friday we get the Personal

consumption expenditures price index or PCE for July. It measures monthly

changes in prices and it's the Fed's favorite inflation measure. A week later the Labor Department

releases the August jobs report. The Fed is hoping an interest rate cut would give

the economy just enough gas to grow, keeping unemployment low, without

inflation getting out of hand.

The Fed's next meeting on interest rates starts September 17th, so any rate cut would come

just before the presidential election.

Chair Powell insists the Fed doesn't pay attention to politics.

I'm Nancy Marshall Genser for Marketplace.

Updated COVID vaccines have been approved by the FDA as the mutating virus keeps at it.

While these vaccines continue to be free for people with insurance, uninsured adults usually

will have to pay since a federal program is winding down.

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