FILE - Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, June 12, 2024. Powell testifies to the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, the second of two days of semi-annual testimony to Congress.
The economy and job market have continued to grow, defying widespread predictions that much higher borrowing costs would cause a recession. Still, growth has weakened this year. From April through June, U.S. employers added an average 177,000 jobs a month, the lowest three-month hiring pace since January 2021.