The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates as planned on Thursday, November 7, with the quarter-percentage-point cut coming as no surprise to anyone.

What was more surprising, however, was Chairman Jerome Powell’s rosy picture of a Goldilocks-like U.S. economy – one neither too hot nor too cold.

During his traditional press conference after the two-day Fed meeting, he marveled at the “remarkable” resilience of the labor markets and consumer spending in the United States.