Why Fed's Bostic won't say a September rate cut is a done deal

The Federal Reserve is readying to cut rates. In his annual speech from the Kansas City Fed's Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said "the time has come" for interest rate cuts.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic won't say a rate cut at the Fed's September meeting is a "done deal." However, he explains that he had been anticipating one rate cut in the fourth quarter for most of the year. Now, he's pulling that cut forward into Q3, saying the September and November meetings are "in play." He cites inflation falling more than he expected and the recent labor market weakness as reasons to potentially cut earlier than he originally thought.

Given that the focus is shifting more towards the labor market, Bostic tells Yahoo Finance Federal Reserve Reporter Jennifer Schonberger, that surveys show that though businesses aren't as eager to hire as they had been, they also aren't planning mass layoffs. He admits that there were contacts in his district who wanted him to push for a rate cut at the July meeting but that it wasn't "the vast majority." But he notes there has been an evolution of opinion on rate cuts, and it's something he will be paying attention to ahead of the Fed's next meeting.

Watch the video above to hear why Bostic doesn't think a recession is in the cards for the US economy.

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

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination Overtime.

This post was written by Stephanie Mikulich.

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