Federal Reserve Kashkari: Does not support interest rate cut last month, takes a wait-and-see attitude towards December decision

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Kashkari said he did not support the Fed's last decision to cut interest rates, but remained on the sidelines about the best course of action for the December meeting. "From the fragmented evidence and data we have, the underlying resilience of economic activity is stronger than I expected," he said on Thursday, arguing that suggested the Fed should pause rate cuts at its October meeting. Since then, data have shown that the economic situation has "remained largely unchanged". "I can make a case for a rate cut based on where the data are going," he said of the upcoming December rate decision. "I can make a case for a rate cut, or I can make a case for keeping it unchanged. We'll have to wait and see." Kashkari said after the September meeting that he expected two more rate cuts in 2025. He said on Thursday that at the time he thought the economy was seeing a more pronounced slowdown. "There are a lot of reports of low-income borrowers struggling, so it does look like there are some areas of vulnerability in the labour market," he said. "But a lot of companies are doing well in earnings and a lot of companies are optimistic about 2026."