Federal Reserve governors Waller and Bowman oppose the Fed's failure to cut interest rates, both citing weakness in the labor market

Fed governors Waller and Bowman expressed concern that policymakers' hesitation to cut interest rates could cause unnecessary damage to the labor market. Both Waller and Bowman voted against the Fed's decision this week to keep the base rate unchanged for the fifth time in a row. They favored a 25 basis point cut in interest rates. In their respective statements released on Friday, the two men explained their reasons for their opposition, both highlighting signs of weakness in the labor market. Their views differ from those of Powell and other policymakers, who continue to view the labor market as broadly sound and favor patience in adjusting interest rates. "I think the current wait-and-see approach is overly cautious and, in my view, the risk of not properly balancing the economic outlook could cause policy to lag behind changing circumstances," Mr. Waller said. He noted that downside risks to the labour market were rising given future data revisions and stagnant private sector job growth. Mr. Baumann said "labour market dynamism is waning and showing increasing signs of fragility."