WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation in the United States is slowing again after higher readings earlier this year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday, while adding that more such evidence would be needed before the Fed would cut interest rates.

After some persistently high inflation reports at the start of 2024, Powell said, the data for April and May “do suggest we are getting back on a disinflationary path.”

Speaking in a panel discussion at the European Central Bank’s monetary policy conference in Sintra, Portugal, Powell said Fed officials still want to see annual price growth slow further toward their 2% target before they would feel confident of having fully defeated high inflation.

“We just want to understand that the levels that we’re seeing are a true reading of underlying inflation,” he added.

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AP AUDIO: Fed Chair Jerome Powell: US inflation is cooling again, though it isn’t yet time to cut rates

AP correspondent Ed Donahue reports on prospects for interest rate cuts this year.

Powell also acknowledged that the Fed is treading a fine line as it weighs when to cut its benchmark interest rate, which it raised 11 times from March 2022 through July 2023 to its current level of 5.3%. The rate hikes were intended to curb the worst streak of inflation in four decades by slowing borrowing and spending by consumers and businesses. Inflation did tumble from its peak in 2022 yet still remains elevated.

If the Fed cuts rates too soon, Powell cautioned, inflation could re-accelerate, forcing the policymakers to reverse course and impose punishing rate hikes. But if the Fed waits too long to