Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced a quarter-percentage-point cut in benchmark rates yesterday, bringing the range to between 4.5% and 4.75%. A further cut is potentially slated for the committee's final meeting of the year in December.
The meeting—which the Fed pushed back a day to create space from Election Day—comes amid cooling inflation and buoyant markets. Officials are looking to cut rates enough to slow recent rises in the unemployment rate, but not so quickly that inflation stops cooling. Since the bank's September rate cut, borrowing costs for mortgages and car loans have gone up—contrary to the Fed's goal. This is potentially due to optimistic market outlooks leading to bond sell-offs, which drive up Treasury yields—a key factor in mortgage rates.
Analysts and officials are also debating the potential impact of Trump's proposed tariffs on inflation, including a universal tariff of at least 10% on all imported goods. Watch an overview of the Federal Reserve here.
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