Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted that policymakers weighed recent downward revisions to employment figures when assessing the health of the labor market ahead of their rate cut decision.

It was the half-basis-point cut heard round the world. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time in four years, and policymakers went further than central bank watchers had expected, lowering its target range for the federal funds rate to 4.75 from 5 percent.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday still strong levels of liquidity in the financial system will allow the central bank to press forward with shrinking its balance sheet even as it has begun cutting rates.