Answering questions at the Economic Club of Washington DC's virtual Signature Event, Powell underlined that the decision on interest rates will be "outcome-based," and not reliant on a timeline.
He stated that the labour-market recovery needs to be complete before Fed decides to discuss the interest rate change. In addition, he noted that Fed won't react in that manner before the long-term inflation has reached the 2.0 percent target.
"We are really focused on the progress of the economy towards those goals, and not on a particular timeframe," he concluded.
The Federal Reserve stated on Wednesday in its April's Beige Book that the economic outlook improved due to "an acceleration in COVID-19 vaccinations," compared to the period described in its previous report.
As vaccination pace picked up, there were improvements regarding consumer spending, tourism, auto sales, manufacturing activity, and commercial real estate, the report explained.
"National economic activity accelerated to a moderate pace from late February to early April," Fed stated, and added that the "employment growth picked up over the reporting period, with most Districts noting modest to moderate increases in headcounts."