Donald Trump has not proved himself to be much of a talent scout; as president he has tended to pick far-right zealots, inept toadies, conflicted swamp dwellers and unqualified family members for top jobs. So it is a relief that he picked a levelheaded and competent person to lead the Federal Reserve, whose authority to direct interest rates and supervise banks gives it enormous influence over the economy.

By choosing Jerome Powell, a Republican respected across the political spectrum, Mr. Trump has opted for continuity and stability, rather than disruption and destruction. Mr. Powell has been a solid member of the Fed board since 2012 and has supported its current chairwoman, Janet Yellen, and her predecessor, Ben Bernanke, as they worked to revive the economy.

Mr. Powell appears to share Ms. Yellen’s view that while the economy has improved a lot in recent years, the time is not right for the Fed to raise interest rates rapidly and substantially. He is a far better choice than other candidates Mr. Trump was said to be considering. They included critics of the Fed who claimed in the wake of the 2008 crisis that the central bank was sowing the seeds for out-of-control inflation. (Almost a decade later there is still no sign of that.) Other potential nominees have advocated for the deregulation of banks, which could imperil the financial system.

That said, Mr. Trump would have made a much better decision had he offered Ms. Yellen a second term, in keeping with a tradition in which presidents have reappointed Fed leaders who were seen to be doing a good job, regardless of party affiliation. As Mr. Trump noted himself, Ms. Yellen has done a terrific job during a precarious time. Under her watch, unemployment fell to 4.1 percent last month, from 6.7 percent when she took over in 2014, and inflation has been well below the Fed’s 2 percent target. The agency has also become a more vigilant supervisor of big banks. Of course, we have not always agreed with Ms. Yellen, particularly when the Fed has been overly fearful of inflation.