The US central bank did not change interest rates on Wednesday. President Trump wanted lower interest rates, but they did not listen. The bank said it is more likely that more people will lose their jobs and prices will increase. This makes it hard for the central bank to decide what to do.

The Fed kept the interest rate the same at 4.3% for the third time in a row. Before this, they had lowered it three times. Many experts who study money think the Fed will lower rates this year. But new taxes on goods from other countries, which Trump started, make the future of the US economy and the Fed's plans very hard to know.

At a meeting with reporters, Jerome Powell said that the new taxes have made people and companies feel less positive. But he also said that these taxes have not really hurt the economy yet. Powell explained that right now, it is too hard to know what the central bank should do about these taxes.

Powell said if taxes on imports stay high, prices will probably go up, the economy will grow slower, and more people might lose their jobs. He also said these effects could be short or last longer.

It's not common for the Fed to have problems with both prices going up and more people losing their jobs. Usually, prices go up when people are spending a lot and companies can't make enough things, so they charge more, like after the pandemic. But when the economy is weak, people usually spend less, which means prices don't go up as much, and more people lose their jobs.

When many people lose their jobs and prices go up fast, it is sometimes called "stagflation." This makes the people who manage the country's money very worried, because it is hard for them to solve both problems at the same time. This happened for a long time in the 1970s when oil prices were high and the economy was weak.

But most economists think Trump's import taxes could cause two problems: prices might go up because imported things cost more, and companies might fire workers because their costs are higher.

The main jobs of the Fed are to keep prices steady and help everyone who wants a job find one. When prices go up, the Fed usually makes it more expensive to borrow money to stop people from spending too much. If many people lose their jobs, the Fed makes it cheaper to borrow money to help people spend more and make the economy grow.

At the start of the year, experts thought the Fed would lower interest rates a few times because prices were not rising as fast. Some experts also said the Fed should lower rates because they expected the economy to slow down and more people to lose jobs. But Powell said no, because the economy is good now, so the Fed can wait and see.

A few months ago, many experts thought the economy would get better without problems. They thought prices would stop rising so quickly and go back to 2%. They also thought people would keep their jobs and the economy would grow well.

But on Wednesday, Powell said that would probably not happen.

If the taxes are put in place at those levels, we will not make more progress towards our goals for about a year, if that is how the taxes are.

Powell also said the Fed's next decision will depend on which problem gets worse: prices going up or people losing jobs.

He said we need to wait and see what happens before we decide if we will lower interest rates or keep them the same.

An expert named Krishna Guha said the Fed probably won't lower interest rates soon. He said the Fed thinks the economy is strong and sees possible problems, so they are probably not planning to lower rates in June. Many experts think the Fed might wait until September to lower rates.

In April, Trump said he would put high taxes on goods from about 60 countries that trade with the U.S. But he stopped most of these taxes for 90 days, except for goods from China. The government put a 145% tax on goods from China. This weekend in Switzerland, the U.S. and China will have their first important talks since Trump started this trade fight.

The main bank is being careful. This might cause more problems between the bank and the government led by Mr. Trump. Last Sunday, Mr. Trump said on TV again that the bank should lower interest rates. Mr. Trump stopped saying he would try to fire Mr. Powell, but he might think about it again if the economy has problems soon.

When asked if Trump's requests for lower interest rates changed the Federal Reserve, Powell said, "It does not change how we do our work. We will always think only about the information about the economy, what might happen in the future, and the possible dangers. That is all."

If the Fed lowers interest rates, it might cost less to borrow money for things like a house, a car, or using a credit card, but we don't know for sure.

A big problem for the Fed is how tariffs will change prices. Most economists think these taxes on imports will make prices higher, but they are not sure how much or for how long. Tariffs usually make prices higher just once, but not always for a long time.

The U.S. economy is doing well now. Prices are not going up as quickly as they did in 2022. People are spending money, maybe buying cars before new taxes. Companies are still hiring, and not many people are unemployed.

But it looks like prices will go up more in the next few months.