Analyst: Strong Employment Data 'Locks In' Rate Cut Space

BlockBeats News, February 13th. Regan Capital analyst Skyler Weinand stated that the soft January U.S. inflation data would not increase the possibility of future Fed rate cuts in the next few months. The reason is that the labor data released earlier this week was stronger than expected—130,000 new jobs were added in January, with an unemployment rate of 4.3%.

The Fed "simply cannot cut rates at the moment, after all, the economy has just created six-figure job growth." Weinand expects the Senate to confirm Woosh to succeed Powell as Fed Chair, but doubts whether he can build a consensus on rate cuts. "We may not see any changes in the Fed's policy rate this year."

The CME FedWatch Tool shows that investors are currently pricing in at least two rate cuts within the year. (FX678)