Fed cuts interest rates by 0.25% after Trump election victory

US central bankers slashed their key lending rate by a quarter of a percentage point as they seek to keep the US economy on solid ground in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s presidential election victory.As it announced the widely expected rate cut — the Federal Reserve’s latest attempt to balance the risks of inflation with those of the US job market — the central bank said “the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are roughly in balance.” “The economic outlook is uncertain, and the committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate,” the Fed’s Open Market Committee said in a Thursday statement.Nevertheless, the central bank also removed a line from its previous statement saying it has “greater confidence” that inflation is moving sustainably toward its long-term target of 2%.

The committee added, however, that it believes it has “made progress” toward its inflation goal.The Fed also adjusted its language around the job market, where labor strikes and hurricanes have recently caused disruptions to data.“Since earlier in the year, labor market conditions have generally eased, and the unemployment rate has moved up but remains low,” the Fed statement said.The Federal Reserve announced the second consecutive rate cut earlier on Thursday to the 4.50%-4.75% range amid uncertainty over Trump’s plans to slap tariffs on cheap imports and crack down on immigration.Officials at Jackson Hole slashed the benchmark rate by a half point in September as it turned its focus toward the US job market.Republicans look set to control both houses of Congress from January, giving the New York real estate mogul a seemingly free rein to implement his election manifesto.Trump could even more to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell once he takes office in January; the pair clashed during his 2017-2021 term when the former president demanded low interest, calling his own appointee to the job an “enemy.”Fed officials appear to ha...