{"text":[[{"start":9.8,"text":"Two regional Federal Reserve presidents said they did not support this week’s interest rate cut, highlighting why US central bank chair Jay Powell warned on Wednesday that another move in December was far from a “foregone conclusion”."}],[{"start":26.28,"text":"Dallas Fed president Lorie Logan and her counterpart at the Cleveland Fed, Beth Hammack, said on Friday they would have kept interest rates on hold, instead of cutting the federal funds target range by a quarter point to 3.75-4 per cent."}],[{"start":44.510000000000005,"text":"“I would have preferred to keep rates steady,” said Hammack, adding that she was concerned that price pressures were “broad based”, reflecting higher electricity prices and insurance costs, along with US President Donald Trump’s tariffs."}],[{"start":61.650000000000006,"text":"“Inflation remains too high, taxing the budgets of businesses and families . . . This economic outlook didn’t call for cutting rates,” said Logan, who cautioned that she would find it “difficult” to support another cut in December unless evidence emerged that the labour market or inflation had weakened."}],[{"start":82.68,"text":"While neither Logan nor Hammack have a vote on the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rates, they join voting member Kansas City Fed head Jeff Schmid who dissented against the cut."}],[{"start":96.58000000000001,"text":"Schmid on Friday said rising healthcare costs and insurance premiums informed his decision."}],[{"start":103.58000000000001,"text":"The mounting opposition to cuts from Fed presidents comes after Powell shocked investors on Wednesday by signalling the US central bank could pause its rate-cutting cycle in December amid growing pressure from the FOMC’s hawks."}],[{"start":120.17000000000002,"text":"Markets are now pricing in a 61 per cent chance of another cut before the end of the year, down from 92 per cent the day before Powell’s remarks."}],[{"start":132.81,"text":"Raphael Bostic, Atlanta Fed president, said he did “eventually” get behind the October cut but was glad Powell had made clear that another quarter-point cut was not guaranteed."}],[{"start":146.94,"text":"“I’ve been concerned for a while that a narrative would emerge that we were on a march to somewhere,” Bostic said on Friday."}],[{"start":155.53,"text":"Referring to market bets ahead of Powell’s remarks that suggested a cut was a near certainty, Bostic added: “That was not where my head was at.”"}],[{"start":166.16,"text":"The FOMC lowered rates for the first time since December last month amid signs of a weakening US labour market."}],[{"start":174.81,"text":"At the September vote, a slim majority of the committee’s 19 members projected two or more cuts before the end of the year — signalling the US central bank would move in October and December."}],[{"start":191.29,"text":"A strong majority of FOMC voters backed Wednesday’s quarter-point cut, with 10 people supporting the move. Trump ally Stephen Miran was an pressed for a jumbo half-point cut."}],[{"start":206.28,"text":"Non-farm payrolls figures compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics have showed job creation has cratered since the spring — though Powell said on Wednesday that was largely due to Trump’s immigration crackdown."}],[{"start":222.06,"text":"The unemployment rate has edged up to 4.3 per cent, from 4.2 per cent, but remains low by historical standards."}],[{"start":231.96,"text":"Schmid on Friday raised doubts that rate cuts “will do much to address stresses in the labour market that more likely than not arise from structural changes in technology and demographics”."}],[{"start":246.8,"text":"The BLS is yet to release a jobs report for October due to the government shutdown, with subsequent reports also likely to be delayed."}],[{"start":256,"text":"Powell acknowledged the lack of official data made a December cut less likely, saying: “What do you do if you’re driving in the fog? You slow down.”"}],[{"start":267.34,"text":"Chris Waller, a Fed governor and the leading internal candidate to replace Powell when his second term ends in May 2026, on Friday slammed claims that the central bank did not have the data it needed to justify lowering borrowing costs again in December."}],[{"start":286.66999999999996,"text":"“The fog might tell you to slow down, but it doesn’t tell you to pull over to the side of the road,” said Waller on Fox Business. “The right thing to do with policy is to keep cutting.” "}],[{"start":302.41999999999996,"text":"Bostic, in contrast, said he “really” liked the “fog analogy”, saying it was appropriate in an environment where there was “so much uncertainty and so little clarity”."}],[{"start":316.75999999999993,"text":"Hammack said that lack of clarity on the economic outlook explained why the FOMC was increasingly divided."}],[{"start":324.85999999999996,"text":"“You’re hearing differing viewpoints because we want to do our best for the American public,” Hammack said. “And right now we’re not sure what that is.”"}],[{"start":335.59999999999997,"text":"Additional reporting by George Steer in New York"}],[{"start":348.97999999999996,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1762128645_1206.mp3"}