Federal Reserve chair says central bank will SLOW interest rises to half a ... trends now

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Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell indicated Wednesday that the central bank is on track to pare back its rate hike to only half a percent in December, after four straight jumbo 0.75 percent hikes. 

Ongoing rate increases 'will be appropriate, but 'the time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting,' Powell said in remarks at the Brookings Institution. 

'It makes sense to moderate the pace of our rate increases as we approach the level of restraint that will be sufficient to bring inflation down,' Powell added, as the Fed works to get record-high inflation back down to its 2 percent goal.  

He said the overheated labor market still needed to cool further for the Fed to have confidence the nation is on track to get back to 2 percent.