U.S. Federal Reserve cuts rates by quarter of a percentage point, notes labour market easing

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Thursday as policy-makers took note of a job market that has “generally eased” while inflation continues to move towards the U.S. central bank’s 2 per cent target.

“Economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace,” the central bank’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee said at the end of a two-day policy meeting in which officials lowered the benchmark overnight interest rate to the 4.50 per cent-4.75 per cent range, as widely expected. The decision was unanimous.

But where the Fed’s previous policy statement noted slowing monthly job gains, the new one referred to the labour market more broadly.

Even while the unemployment rate remains low, “labour market conditions have generally eased,” the statement said.

Risks to the job market and inflation were “roughly in balance,” the Fed said, repeating language from the statement released after its September meeting.

The new statement also slightly altered the reference to inflation, saying that price pressures had “made progress” towards the Fed’s objective, rather than the prior language that it had “made further progress.” The personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy items, a key gauge of inflation, has changed little in the last three months, running at a roughly 2.6 per cent annual rate as of September.

The Fed statement will be interpreted in light of Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s return to power in January.

Trump, who defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s presidential election, campaigned on promises ranging from steep tariffs on imports to a crackdown on immigration that could have a broad and unpredictable impact on the economic landscape the Fed will navigate in coming months as officials try to keep inflation contained and close to the central bank’s target.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who was appointed by Trump in his first term to lead the Fed and then clashed with the then-president over rates policy in 2018 and 2019, will hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m. EST (1930 GMT) to elaborate on the policy statement and economic outlook.

Investors following Trump’s election victory have already trimmed their own bets that the central bank would be able to reduce interest rates as much as expected.