Fed's Harker explains why a 25bps cut is more likely than a 50

Stocks surged (^DJI,^GSPC, ^IXIC) after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said "the time has come" for the central bank to start cutting rates. Now Wall Street is debating how big the cut at the Fed's September meeting should be.

Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker sits down with Jennifer Schonberger from the Kansas City Fed's Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium to discuss Powell's speech and what it means for Fed policy moving forward.

Harker said the data will ultimately dictate whether the Fed cuts by 25 or 50 basis points, though he says "starting at 25 makes a lot of sense."

So what would it take for the Fed to cut by 50 basis points? "Not just a weak jobs report, but weak job data," Harker says. "I am firmly in the camp of not looking at any one number, because we know these numbers can be revised. You have to look at all the data, claims data, job transitions data, the soft data we're hearing from employers throughout our district and throughout the country. Right now, things have clearly softened in the labor market, but they're still strong," Harker adds.

Watch Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's full speech here.

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This post was written by Nicholas Jacobino