U.S. central bank

The U.S. Federal Reserve cut its key lending rate by half a percentage-point Wednesday in its first reduction for more than four years, sharply lowering borrowing costs shortly before November's presidential election.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady for a sixth straight meeting Wednesday, with a summer start to cuts looking less likely owing to stubborn inflation.

The United States and the European Union can avoid recession and achieve a soft landing by bringing inflation down to an acceptable level, a U.S. central bank official said on Aug. 2.

"A soft landing is feasible in the U.S. and the EA [euro area]," St Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard during a speech at New York university.

The U.S. economy is showing no signs of overheating, so the job market can continue to tighten without generating troubling inflation, U.S. Central Bank chief Jerome Powell said on March 1

U.S. central bank chief Janet Yellen announced on Nov. 20 that she will leave the Federal Reserve in February once her successor as chair is sworn in.