Now that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has signaled that the central bank could soon cut its key interest rate, he faces a new challenge: how to do it without seeming to cave to the White House’s demands.

The job market is on such shaky ground that the Federal Reserve may soon need to cut interest rates to support the economy, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Friday at a key central banking forum.

Jerome H. Powell said the “balance of risks” across the economy had started to shift, raising the odds the central bank lowers borrowing costs at its next meeting in September.