President Donald Trump‘s repeated complaints about the Federal Reserve increasing interest rates too quickly proved to be correct, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow argued on CNBC Friday.
Trump is a “good forecaster,” said Kudlow, director of Trump’s National Economic Council. “He has a lot of experience as a businessman and an investor; so he knows his stuff.”
The president has been critical of the Fed’s path on rate hikes under Chairman Jerome Powell, blaming the central bank for recent stock market declines and even GM’s planned production and job cuts.
The central bank has raised rates three times this year and the market expects another one later this month.
In a speech last week, Powell appeared to walk back his comments on Oct. 3 that rates were a “long way” from so-called neutral. Powell said on Nov. 28 before The Economic Club of New York that rates are “just below” neutral, perhaps indicating that concerns about a more aggressive path higher for rates may no longer be warranted.
It appears the central bank will hike rates later this month, Kudlow said Friday, “but maybe no more for quite some time or maybe they won’t move this month.”
Kudlow appeared on “Squawk on the Street” after the government’s latest employment report on Friday showed job growth slowed in November, easing some concerns about the Fed.
The stock market was under pressure in the past two trading sessions on concerns about rates in the midst of a possible economic slowdown and continued murkiness around trade relations with China. Stocks traded higher early Friday following the jobs report but were lower by midmorning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average wiped out most of a 785-point deficit Thursday, to finish down only 79 points.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Fed officials are considering whether to signal a wait-and-see approach after a likely interest rate increase later this month.
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