According to online reports, Williams, a Federal Reserve official and Powell ally, said,"The labor market situation I have observed in the past year can be described as 'moderate and gradual cooling', but the overall situation is still stable." Although the unemployment rate rose only slightly to 4.2% in July (from 4.1% in June), relatively weak non-agricultural data provided room for Powell to push for a consensus on interest rate cuts. Williams pointed out that the real focus of this report is the sharp downward revision of employment growth data for May and June. "This information is crucial to help us understand where labor supply and demand are heading and where labor market momentum is cooling," he said. Williams was cautious about whether interest rates were possible in September and did not endorse the market's expectation of a rate cut of 80%. He said: "The challenges faced by market participants are the same as those we face as policymakers. I think the direction of the market's reaction to the signal is understandable." Williams expects U.S. economic growth to slow to about 1% this year, but he believes the economy is expected to pick up in 2026. (Jin Shi)