Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that he is more concerned with labor market weakness than with inflation, which is why he backed the decision to lower interest rates last week, CNBC reports. In remarks he made in a speech to business leaders in Providence, Rhode Island, the Fed Chair said that “Near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside — a challenging situation. And though it's less severe than in the 70s and 80s, it has "presented a policy challenge for the Fed." “The increased downside risks to employment have shifted the balance of risks to achieving our goals,” Powell said. “Uncertainty around the path of inflation remains high,” he said.