Cooling Labor Market and Elevated Inflation Stoke Fed Divisions
The New York Times••business
Key Points:
- The Federal Reserve recently cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point for the third consecutive meeting, but the decision was marked by significant internal disagreement among policymakers.
- Two members of the Federal Open Market Committee voted against the rate cut, while four others expressed “soft dissent,” forecasting higher year-end interest rates than the current 3.5 to 3.75 percent range.
- Stephen I. Miran supported a larger half-point rate cut, continuing his stance from previous meetings, while Austan D. Goolsbee opposed any cut due to concerns about persistent inflation and insufficient economic data.
- The Fed's decision-making was complicated by limited economic data availability caused by a government shutdown, with the most recent jobs report available being from September
