Fed Williams: Another US rate cut is justified The economy is ready for a soft landing

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said on Monday that the central bank is now "well positioned" to engineer a soft landing for the U.S. economy. He signaled that the Fed was on track to slow the pace of rate cuts after its aggressive half-point rate cut in September.

Williams said September's very upbeat jobs report confirmed that inflation continues to slow after more than a year of high interest rates, while the U.S. economy remains strong and healthy.

In an interview Monday, he noted that "the current stance of monetary policy is really well-positioned to both maintain the strength of the economy and the labor market and continue to see inflation move back to 2 percent."

As president of the New York Fed, Williams has a permanent vote on the Federal Open Market Committee and is a close ally of Fed Chairman Jay Powell.

A September rate cut makes sense

There have been concerns that the Fed's efforts to root out the worst bout of inflation in decades by raising borrowing costs could trigger a recession. However, last week's September nonfarm payrolls data helped change market expectations for the U.S. economy.

At the same time, the upbeat jobs report also dashed bets that the Fed would cut interest rates by another 50 basis points at its November meeting, with traders ramping up bets on the next quarter-point cut.

Mr Williams said that with evidence of easing inflation and a bit less heat in the Labour market, "the rate decision was right in September and it is right today". In September, the Federal Reserve FOMC cut interest rates by 50 basis points, reducing the benchmark interest rate to 4.75%-5%.

Williams added, "As Chairman Powell has said, it makes sense to reset policy to a level that is still restrictive and still puts downward pressure on inflation, but much less so than before." I don't want to see the economy weaken. I want to maintain the strength that we've seen in the economy and the labor market."

Future rate cut

Asked how far the Fed should continue to cut rates in the future, Williams said the latest "dot plot" of officials' rate forecasts implied a quarter-point cut at the two remaining meetings this year, a "very good baseline scenario."

At the same time, he stressed that these decisions will be data-dependent and not follow a "preset course," which dovetail with Powell.

Mr Williams added that the 50 basis point cut in September was not "a guideline for our future actions" and that if inflation fell more quickly than expected, it "would require a faster normalisation of policy"; By contrast, if inflation stagnates, "interest rates will need to fall more slowly".

Williams said his goal is to move interest rates to a "neutral" level. He also expects consumer price inflation to move closer to the Fed's 2 percent target next year, but he remains wary of shocks from regions like the Middle East, such as the recent rise in oil prices.

"Poor pay and overtime", the United States agents set off a large-scale resignation tide

More than two dozen active and former agents, whose departures stemmed in part from a long history of failures by Secret Service management, left agents in a perpetual state of emergency, lacking the necessary focus, rest and training to do their jobs properly.

Reasons for leaving include:

Overwhelming overtime, often given at the last minute and sometimes without pay.

A plan to rehire retired Secret Service agents backfired and instead prompted more employees to retire so they could collect both pay and pensions.

There was favoritism in promotions and hiring.

Veteran agents have reportedly said that as the Secret Service's recruitment has increased, so have its hiring standards. Even under the best of circumstances, it takes years of training to prepare new recruits to protect the president, but progress has been slowed by dilapidated hardware and the fact that combat training rooms have flooded during downpours.

Senior officials at the Secret Service and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, acknowledged that some of the problems existed and said in interviews that they were taking them seriously.

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said the agency must quickly increase the number of trained agents and acquire more advanced technology to deal with a growing number of domestic and foreign threats.

The Secret Service has succeeded in hiring enough agents in recent months to grow its staff again. Congress also appropriated $231 million last month to pay overtime and other costs for agents, as well as to buy more equipment such as drones.

Jonathan Wackrow, a 14-year veteran of the Secret Service, said of how management treats employees: "It's like you ride a horse until it dies and then eat it." That's not how any organization should operate."