Jerome Powell is facing a ‘puzzlement’ of economic data, with contradictions likely to freeze any immediate action on the base rate

Fortune

by Eleanor Pringle

February 17, 2026

"Such confusion often leads to inertia, and we suspect that there will be no knee-jerk policy reaction to any of the week’s reports," Oxford Economics' Bob Schwartz wrote.

Verticals

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Originally published on Fortune on 2/17/2026