Fed Chair Powell says gradual rate hikes best approach

BOSTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says he sees no need to drop the central bank's current gradual approach to raising interest rates.

Powell says the current combination of steady, low inflation and very low unemployment show the country is going through "extraordinary times."

He says the central bank is trying to make sure it doesn't raise rates too quickly and push the country into a recession or move too slowly and set off higher inflation.

He adds that the Fed's goal of gradual increases in interest rates is an effort to balance those risks and extend the current expansion, now the second longest in U.S. history.