Powell has used Jackson Hole to battle inflation and buoy jobs; he's now caught between both

By Howard Schneider

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Fed Chair Jerome Powell used the central bank's annual Wyoming research conference to promise inflation-fighting rigor when it was needed in 2022, then last year he came to the defense of the job market with promises of lower interest rates when the unemployment rate seemed on a steady rise.

In his valedictory speech to the conference before his term ends next May, Powell on Friday faces a choice between the two approaches at a time when incoming information has confounded his data-dependent strategy by pulling in both directions. His colleagues are split whether higher inflation or higher unemployment is the bigger risk. Both investors and the Trump administration have strong expectations that rates will fall at the Fed's September meeting regar