Live updates: US economy added 254,000 jobs last month

Friday’s surprisingly strong jobs report for September shows the Federal Reserve may not need to make another massive interest rate cut next month.

When the Fed cut rates by a half-point last month, central bank leader Jerome Powell told a news conference that the move was intended to protect the strength of the labor market, l inflation apparently under control.

Some economists have argued that this is a so-called “insurance cut.” In addition to stabilizing prices, the Fed is also mandated by Congress to promote maximum employment, and with price pressures now largely under control, central bankers are focusing more on the health of the U.S. labor market.

Given that employers are still hiring at a healthy pace and unemployment has not continued to climb, after a steady rise over the past year, that means Fed officials don’t need to take more aggressive measures to prevent the deterioration of the labor market. That just doesn’t seem to be happening at the moment, at least according to government data. A separate report released earlier this week showed that job postings rose unexpectedly in August, remaining above pre-pandemic levels.

“These results likely rule out a 50 basis point rate cut at the Fed’s next meeting in November, unless next month’s jobs report is a disaster,” wrote analyst Bret Kenwell of American investments at eToro, in a note on Friday. “While a report doesn’t necessarily give investors a green light, it’s a big step in the right direction and the September jobs report was certainly a statement.”

Some Fed officials had already said they preferred to cut rates more cautiously in the future – even before the release of September’s superb jobs report.

“After 50 basis points, we’re still in a net tight position, so I was comfortable taking a bigger first step,” Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari told CNBC this week last. “As we move forward, I think overall we’ll probably take more modest steps unless the data changes materially. »

Investors are overwhelmingly betting that the Fed will cut policy by a quarter point at its next policy meeting on Nov. 6-7, according to the futures market.