Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that interest rates are still expected to decline further, but suggested they might not be that much lower over the next few months.

Chair Jerome Powell says the Federal Reserve will likely cut its key interest rate slowly and deliberately in the coming months, in part because inflation has shown signs of persistence and the Fed’s officials want to see where it heads next.

A strong economy is giving Federal Reserve officials room to move “carefully” as they lower interest rates, the central bank chair said.

Related: Despite interest rate cuts, mortgage rates rise for home buyers So it's happened this week. Both the Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index reports showed small increases when many investors and economic experts were expecting flat results or declines.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the recent performance of the US economy has been “remarkably good,” giving central bankers room to lower interest rates at a careful pace.

Fed Chair Powell was pressed about how the central bank will alter its policy in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump's victory last week. Economists think that Trump's proposals during the campaign,

Indexes slipped as traders zeroed in on remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who said the central bank is in no hurry to cut rates amid a strong economy.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday the U.S. central bank has time before it needs to adapt its policymaking thinking due to the return of President-elect Donald Trump to the White House.

US central bankers began lowering borrowing costs in September with an aggressive half-percentage-point cut, and then lowered the policy rate again by a quarter point last week