Overview

• Bowman highlighted the July jobs report showing unemployment rising to 4.2% and average monthly hiring slowing to 35,000 as evidence of labor market fragility.
• She was one of two governors who dissented at June’s Fed meeting by voting to cut rates instead of maintaining the 4.25%–4.50% target range.
• The vice chair reaffirmed her forecast of three federal funds rate reductions this year to preempt further economic weakening.
• Most Fed officials remain hesitant to cut rates due to concerns that President Trump’s tariffs could disrupt the Fed’s progress toward a 2% inflation goal.
• President Trump denounced the recent employment figures as “rigged” and dismissed the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner soon after the report’s release.