Trump Urges Fed Chair To Cut Interest Rate

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) WASHINGTON, April 4 (KUNA) -- US President Donald Trump called on the Federal Reserve to cut the interest rates to 4.25-4.5 percent amid warnings of soaring inflation.
"This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates. He is always "late," but he could now change his image, and quickly. Energy prices are down, Interest Rates are down, Inflation is down, even Eggs are down 69 percent, and Jobs are UP, all within two months - A BIG WIN for America," Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Friday.
"CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!," he urged.
"GREAT JOB NUMBERS, FAR BETTER THAN EXPECTED. IT'S ALREADY WORKING. HANG TOUGH, WE CAN'T LOSE!" the president argued.
He made the comments after Jerome Powell warned that high inflation could be here to stay due to the new tariffs.
Inflation is likely to pick up because of President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, and could remain elevated, the Fed chair said earlier today.
"We face a highly uncertain outlook with elevated risks of both higher unemployment and higher inflation." "While tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation, it is also possible that the effects could be more persistent," he added.
Powell's comments come just days after the Trump administration unveiled the sharpest ever escalation in US tariffs on data going back 200 years - even steeper than the expansive tariffs deployed under the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930, Fitch Ratings told CNN.
A 10 percent tariff on all US imports will go into effect on Saturday, with even higher tariffs slated for April 9.
US payrolls rose by 228,000 in March, but unemployment rate increases to 4.2 percent.
Health care was the leading growth area, consistent with prior months. The industry added 54,000 jobs, almost exactly in line with its 12-month average.
Average hourly earnings increased 0.3 percent on the month, in line with the forecast, while the annual rate of 3.8 percent, the lowest level since July 2024.
Job growth was stronger than expected in March, providing at least temporary reassurance that the labor market is stable, the Labor Department reported today.
Nonfarm payrolls increased 228,000 for the month, up from the revised 117,000 in February and better than the Dow Jones estimate for 140,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
However, the unemployment rate moved up to 4.2 percent, higher than the 4.1 percent forecast as the labor force participation rate also increased.
Though the headline number beat estimates, the report comes against a highly uncertain backdrop after President Donald Trump's tariff announcement this week that has intensified fears of a global trade war that could damage economic growth.
Stocks reacted little to the report, with futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average off their lows but still down by more than 900 points while Treasury yields held sharply negative.
"Today's better than expected jobs report will help ease fears of an immediate softening in the US labor market," said Lindsay Rosner, head of multi-sector fixed income investing at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
"However, this number has become a side dish with the market just focusing on the entrأ©e: tariffs," she added.
Trump announced a flat duty of 10 percent against all trading partners along with a wide menu of so-called reciprocal tariffs that already have provoked retaliation from China and others. Wall Street has been aggressively in sell-off mode for the past two days, with stocks tumbling and investors flocking to the safety of fixed income. (end) rsr

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