U.S. Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rates Steady
The U.S. Federal Reserve has maintained interest rates within the range of 4.25% to 4.5%, following the rise in inflation in June, despite ongoing pressure from President Donald Trump to lower them.
Trump renewed his call on Wednesday for the Fed to cut rates after data showed U.S. economic growth in the second quarter exceeded expectations.
He wrote on the Truth Social platform, while the central bank prepared to announce its monetary policy decision: "GDP for the second quarter just came out at 3%, much better than expected! … Too late now, rates should be cut. No inflation! Let people buy their homes and pay for them!"
Estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the U.S. Department of Commerce indicated that the U.S. GDP grew at an annual rate of 3% in the second quarter of this year, after the economy contracted by 0.5% from January to March.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.1% last month, below economists’ expectations of 4.3%. The U.S. economy added 147,000 jobs in non-farm sectors in June, surpassing the consensus estimate of 110,000, according to Dow Jones data.
Job growth in the first half of 2025 declined by 37% compared to the same period in 2024, as new non-farm jobs fell from 985,000 to 619,000.
Last month’s unemployment rate was about 1% higher than its lowest level in 54 years, which was 3.4% in 2023, but it remains within the normal range during non-recessionary periods, where unemployment typically ranged from 5% and above between 2008 and 2015.
