“Near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside – a challenging situation,” Powell said, repeating language used last week when the central bank cut its benchmark rate a quarter of a percentage point. Fed policymakers at the median anticipate quarter-point reductions at the Fed’s October and December meetings, and investors expect with a high probability that they will follow through. But, “if we ease too aggressively, we could leave the inflation job unfinished and need to reverse course later to fully restore two percent inflation. If we maintain restrictive policy too long, the labor market could soften unnecessarily,” Powell said. Powell said those efforts, under extraordinary circumstances, likely helped the economy avoid far worse outcomes.