Washington (CNN) — The job market is on such shaky ground that the Federal Reserve may soon need to cut interest rates to support the economy, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Friday at a key central banking forum.

In one of his most consequential speeches, Powell suggested the labor market could benefit from lower rates, which the Fed has kept unchanged for eight straight months.

“Downside risks to employment are rising,” Powell said in prepared remarks for his keynote speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He said the possibility of Trump’s tariffs having only a short-lived effect on inflation is “reasonable.”

“With policy in restrictive territory, the baseline outlook and the shifting balance of risks may warrant adjusting

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