The Fed says it could cool it on rate hikes as soon as next month. Now the future of the economy depends on how long the increases last.

• The Fed hiked interest rates by 0.75 percentage points on Wednesday.
• But Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled the hikes could simmer down as soon as next month.

The Federal Reserve has yet again hiked interest rates — and now the US economy needs to wait and see how much longer the increases will keep coming.

On Wednesday, the central bank decided during its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting that it would raise interest rates by 0.75 percentage points, the fourth consecutive time the Fed has raised rates at this scale. These aggressive hikes are part of the Fed's strategy to lower inflation levels by slowing down the economy, and despite concerns that acting too aggressively could prompt a recession, Fed Chair Jerome Powell stood by the strategy during Wednesday remarks.

"Restoring price stability is essential to set the stage for achieving maximum employment and stable prices in the longer run," Powell said. "The historical record cautions strongly against prematurely loosening policy. We will stay the course until the job is done."

But, as he said, it might soon be time to slow the rate of those increases.

"It will become appropriate to slow the pace of increases as we approach the level of interest rates that will be sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down to our 2% goal," Powell said. "So that time is coming and it may come as soon as the next meeting or the one after that, no decision has been made," he added.

Despite suggesting moving back to smaller hikes as soon as next month, Powell also noted that the Fed would continue raising rates until inflation is tamed. "Incoming data since our last meeting suggests that ultimate level of interest rates will be higher than previously expected," he also said.

These hikes have already made borrowing more expensive for Americans — 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have risen to 7%, credit card rates will soon rise from the current 19%, and auto loans will likely get more expensive.

Some lawmakers and economists have warned that continuing to raise rates could lead to a recession and job losses. Meanwhile, the Fed is aiming to achieve a "soft landing," in which it can keep increasing interest rates just enough to combat inflation, but not enough to cause a recession. While Powell said achieving a soft landing may still be possible, it's now more difficult.

"We've always said it was going to be difficult," he said, adding that "to the extent rates have to go higher for longer and stay higher for longer, that path has narrowed."

Despite concerns of a recession, the White House stood by the central bank's method to tackle rising prices across the country. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a Wednesday briefing that "the Fed actions help bring inflation down."

"This is part of our transition to stable and steady growth," she added.

But along with concerns that the Fed is acting too aggressively from lawmakers like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement that the Fed's Wednesday hike "will have a direct and harmful impact on working people and our families."

"A recession would instead cause companies to hire fewer people, making it harder for young workers, workers of color and others who have greater barriers finding jobs, and put downward pressure on the wages of all working people who will bear the brunt of an overactive monetary policy," she said. "Increasing interest rates signals to working people that the government thinks we have too much money and we should have less money to spend."

Powell stood by the hikes, but said they might soon come at a lesser scale to hopefully avoid a recession.

"I don't have any sense that we've over tightened or moved too fast," he said. "I think it's been good and a successful program we that we've gotten this far this fast. Remember though, that we still think there's a need for ongoing rate increases and we have some ground left to cover here, and cover it we will."