The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, April 4, edition that U.S. Federal Reserve officials will likely reduce their benchmark interest rate later this year, chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday, despite recent reports showing the country's economy is still strong and that U.S. inflation picked up in January and February. An Associated Press dispatch to The Globe reports that Mr. Powell said in a speech at Stanford University, "The recent data do not materially change the overall picture, which continues to be one of solid growth, a strong but rebalancing labour market and inflation moving down toward 2 per cent on a sometimes bumpy path." Most Fed officials "see it as likely to be appropriate" to start cutting their key rate "at some point this year," he added. In his speech, Mr. Powell also sought to dispel any notion that the Fed's interest-rate decisions might be affected by this year's presidential election campaign. The Fed will meet and decide whether to cut rates during the peak of the campaign, in July and September. Though inflation has cooled significantly from its peak, it remains above the Fed's 2-per-cent target. Average prices are still well above their prepandemic levels.