Fed’s Jerome Powell Seals Expectations of Half-Point Rate Rise in May

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the central bank was likely to raise interest rates by a half percentage point at its meeting next month and indicated similar rate rises could be warranted after that.

“It is appropriate in my view to be moving a little more quickly” to raise interest rates than the Fed has in the recent past, Mr. Powell said Thursday. “I also think there’s something in the idea of front-end-loading” the removal of stimulus, he said.