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Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), during a speech on November 30th, stressed the likelihood of the Fed raising interest rates by a 50 basis point rate hike at its meeting on Wednesday. The pace of seven rate hikes in nine months, totaling 4.25 percentage points, is unprecedented over the past 40 years. With skyrocketing interest rates and record inflation unlikely to go away anytime soon, 2023 will be a tough year for the U.S. economy. In this episode of BizBeat, CGTN's Zheng Junfeng explains.