After months of anticipation, the U.S. may be hours away from the Federal Reserve System making its first interest rate cut in more than four years. That announcement is expected to come during Federal Reserve meetings this week.
Rates were increased in the wake of the pandemic, eventually bringing the rate to its highest point in 23 years. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered several increases to bring the rate to 5.25 to 5.5%.
“We’re expecting a .25% cut,” said Steven Bouchey, a Capital Region-based financial advisor and founder of Bouchey Financial Group.
The Fed’s goal initially was to make borrowing more expensive to help cool the economy and climbing inflation rate. So a cut should be welcome news for people buying a home, a car or who have credit card debt.
“The best news is when interest rates start coming down, hopefully mortgages will follow soon thereafter, which will make housing more affordable. Housing is a big part of the economy.”
Experts say savers will see an impact sooner than consumers with high interest rates on their credit cards or auto loans.
“Whether it be savings, CD’s, bonds and their portfolio, they’re going to get a whole lot less interest than they did just a few months ago,” Bouchey said.
With the consumer accounting for two-thirds of the economy, the Fed is sure to be looking at the latest, rather sluggish jobs report.
“If they don’t have jobs, they’re not earning money, they’re not going to have the confidence that the economy really relies on from the consumer,” explained Bouchey.
With thousands of state government jobs available, New York officials are trying to create a clearer path to public service.
The state’s Department of Civil Service and Department of Labor are joining forces to open 10 centers for careers in government across the state in existing career centers.
“The concept behind this is that there are individuals already coming into those public places and seeking employment,” Commissioner Timothy Hogues said. “A lot of times, they’re not aware of the opportunities with the state.”
Financial experts say future jobs reports will play a critical role in determining whether there will be more cuts moving forward.
“The softer the economy, the more they want to cut rates to stimulate it so we come in for a soft landing and not a hard landing,” Bouchey said.
Some economists are predicting more cuts before the end of the year, perhaps in November and December, with some forecasts showing a rate of 2 to 2.5% by May of 2025.