Fed Chair Jerome Powell defended the Federal Open Meeting Committee’s universal decision to hold the Federal Funds Rate steady at 4.25% - 4.50% in June. The FOMC’s “wait and see” approach to the funds rate was in keeping, Powell said, with the Fed’s dual mandate of prudent monetary policy.

Headline numbers from the June jobs report took pressure off the Federal Reserve to consider an interest-rate cut later this month, likely leaving the central bank on hold at least until the fall.