PANews reported on February 15th that, according to Jinshi, Nick Timiraos, a vocal advocate for the Federal Reserve, wrote that key indicators of the US economy are pointing in the same positive direction: inflation is declining, the labor market remains strong, and economic growth is solid. This is not a definitive conclusion, but it represents the closest the US economy has ever come to a soft landing (i.e., curbing inflation while avoiding a recession). Just four years ago, many economists thought this was impossible. Now, the scenario of the US economy bringing inflation back to the Fed's 2% target without falling into recession is once again credible. However, even without oxygen masks, it's too early to unfasten the seatbelts. The Fed's preferred inflation gauge, the core PCE annual rate, is currently close to 3%, and many forecasters predict that inflation will struggle to make significant progress this year as tariff-related price increases spread further. Meanwhile, the labor market may not be as robust as last week's report suggested. Payden & Rygel's chief economist, Jeffrey Cleveland, stated that objectively speaking, the labor market has been weak, and the unemployment rate is more likely to rise than fall this year.