Powell says the Fed will not hesitate to keep raising rates until inflation comes down

Powell said Tuesday that he will back interest rate increases until prices start falling.

The central bank leader told the Wall Street Journal in a livestreamed interview that they would not hesitate to do that.

We will go to that point. He said there wouldn't be any hesitation about that.

The Fed raised benchmark borrowing rates by half a percentage point earlier this month, the second increase of 2022, as inflation runs around a 40-year high.

Powell said that similar 50 basis point moves were likely to come at ensuing meetings if economic conditions remained the same.

On Tuesday, he repeated his commitment to getting inflation closer to the Fed's 2% target, and cautioned that it might not be easy and could come at the expense of a 3.6% unemployment that is just above the lowest level since the late 1960s.

If unemployment were to move up a few ticks, you would still have a strong labor market. Our job isn't to handicap the odds, it's to try to achieve that.

This is breaking news. You can check back here for updates.