A weaker-than-expected February jobs report quashed the notion that the labor market is stabilizing, my colleague Jennifer Schonberger writes, but it likely won’t push the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this month due to inflation concerns stemming from the war in the Middle East.
Here’s what several Fed officials had to say about the labor market report:
San Francisco Fed president Mary Daly
“This jobs report has got my attention,” Daly told CNBC. “The labor markets may be a little weaker than we have seen so far.”
Daly added that, at this point, the Fed is facing “two-sided risks.”
Kansas City Fed president Jeff Schmid
Schmid called February’s job report a reflection of structural changes in the job market, maintaining that the US labor market is in the midst of a transformation in which older Americans are retiring, and companies are pausing hiring to see where technology — artificial intelligence — can fill the gaps.
“[Employers] are taking a pause before we hire the next person to say, what is the skill set we need and what can technology do to bridge that skill set?” Schmid said.
Fed governor Chris Waller
Waller noted that if February’s jobs report came in strong, he would switch his position to prefer holding interest rates steady under the notion of a firming job market. But given the weaker reading, he’s likely to stick with his bias to cut rates.
