Fed's Waller: Available data show ongoing labor weakness, bolstering rate cut case

Data available even in the absence of delayed U.S. government employment reports tells a consistent story of weak hiring, bolstering the need for the Federal Reserve to cut rates even as other data points to solid economic growth, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday.

"Either GDP momentum comes down or the labor market rebounds...They don't go together," Waller said on the Bloomberg Surveilliance television show.

He argued for the Fed to continue what he called cautious quarter point cuts because "we don’t know which way this is going to break...If the Labor market rebounds there is less pressure to cut rates...You don’t want to make a mistake.”

REUTERS