Hot seat: Getting that much consensus is a victory for Powell who, in his final months as Fed chair, is attempting to ward off the greatest threat to the Fed’s independence in generations. — Reuters
NEW YORK: Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell has rallied a deeply divided committee of policymakers behind an interest rate-cut, tuning out heavy political pressure to find middle ground among officials variously worried by a faltering labour market and lingering inflation concerns.
The quarter-point reduction – the first cut of the year – came after a significant slowdown in job growth and an unprecedented push by the White House for much lower rates.
