Fed Finally Lowers Interest Rates After Months Of Trump Pressure
The Federal Reserve announced its first interest rate cut of the year on Wednesday, lowering the benchmark rate by a quarter-point. After a two-day meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to lower the…
The Federal Reserve announced its first interest rate cut of the year on Wednesday, lowering the benchmark rate by a quarter-point.
After a two-day meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to lower the target range to 4.00%-4.25%. President Donald Trump had repeatedly pressured Fed Chair Jerome Powell to adopt aggressive rate cuts to stimulate the economy, calling on Powell as recently as Monday to make cuts “bigger than he had in mind.”
“Recent indicators suggest that growth of economic activity moderated in the first half of the year. Job gains have slowed, and the unemployment rate has edged up but remains low. Inflation has moved up and remains somewhat elevated,” the Federal Reserve’s press release stated.
“American small businesses overwhelmingly want lower interest rates to access the credit they need to take advantage of Republican tax cuts. Wednesday’s rate cut is a step in the right direction and an admission by Chairman Powell that President Trump’s perspective on interest rates has been correct all along,” Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of the Job Creators Network, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Tax cuts, rate cuts, and pro-growth Republican policies can fuel a Main Street resurgence that dramatically boosts the labor market and broader economy in the months ahead.”
The Fed’s decision comes in the wake of disappointing jobs data. The August jobs report revealed that the economy added just