Trump wants Fed rate cuts and quantitative easing



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WASHINGTON (AP) – Latest news on Friday jobs (local time):

10:45

President Donald Trump reacted to the employment report by asking the Federal Reserve to cut rates and restore the bond purchase program previously used to reduce interest rates in the long run at the beginning of the decade, following the Great Recession. quantitative easing. "

"Our country is doing incredibly well economically," Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House.

Still, Trump said he believes the central bank "has really slowed us down" with the four Fed rate hikes last year, which he said were useless because there are "very few". inflation, if any. "

"In terms of quantitative tightening, it should now act as a quantitative easing," Trump said. "I think they should lower their rates and get rid of the quantitative tightening. You would see a rocket. "

Trump announced plans to appoint Conservative political allies Stephen Moore and former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain two vacant positions on the Fed's seven-member board of directors. members.

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9:45

Economists believe that the strong hiring and modest wage increases announced in the March jobs report on Friday are probably not enough to alter the Fed's current plans to delay further increases in labor market rates. # 39; s interest.

Fed officials last December suggested raising rates twice this year. But in March, after the volatility of the financial markets and signs of declining inflation, the Fed announced that it would keep its rates unchanged this year.

The data from Friday's report "are not strong enough to dislodge the Fed from its current policy," said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, a consulting firm. Brusuelas expects the Fed to remain on hold "probably by 2020".

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8:30

Hiring rebounded in March, as US employers added 196,000 jobs, up sharply from February's modest gain, and evidence that many companies still want to hire despite signs of a slowing economy.

The Ministry of Labor reports that the unemployment rate remained at 3.8%, which is close to the lowest level in almost 50 years. Wage growth slowed slightly as the average hourly wage increased 3.2% over the previous year. This is down from the 3.4% gain recorded in February, which was the best of the last 10 years.

The figures suggest that the meager employment growth in February, revised to 33,000 from 20,000 initially, was only temporary and that companies were optimistic that the economy would remain strong. Nevertheless, the United States faces several challenges, including cautious consumers, slowing business investment growth, and a US-China trade war that is contributing to slowing growth abroad.

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12:05

A random survey of 2,000 Americans produced a surprisingly strong record of predicting the health of the labor market over time.

For now, the jobs report that the government will release Friday will show a strong job gain for March. But this suggests that hiring could slow down later this year.

The survey, a measure of consumer confidence produced by the Conference Board, a research group, goes beyond asking respondents questions about the state of the economy. He also asks if they think the jobs are "many" or "hard to get".

Collective responses to these questions may foreshadow the evolution of employment growth and the unemployment rate over time. When more people say that many jobs and fewer say they are hard to get, hiring generally increases.

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