Christopher Waller, governor of the US Federal Reserve, during a Fed Listens event in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, March 22, 2024. A trio of central bank decisions this week sent a clear message to markets that officials are preparing to loosen monetary policy, reigniting investor appetite for risk.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesFederal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller reiterated his support for an interest rate cut in September and opened the door to a potentially larger move if the labor market continues to weaken.In a speech Thursday evening, the policymaker said he expects the August nonfarm payrolls report to be weak, with Bureau of Labor Statistics revisions indicating that the the economy may have lost jobs over the past several months.”Based on what I know today, I would support a 25 basis point cut at the Committee’s meeting on September 16 and 17,” Waller said during the speech in Miami. “While there are signs of a weakening labor market, I worry that conditions could deteriorate further and quite rapidly, and I think it is important that the [Federal Open market Committee] not wait until such a deterioration is under way and risk falling behind the curve in setting appropriate monetary policy.”A basis point is 0.01%, so a reduction of 25 basis points would be equal to a quarter percentage point.Waller said he believes the Fed can use its power over interest rates to stave off further labor market weakening. “So, let’s get on with it,” he said.Considered to be on President Donald Trump’s short list of potential replacements for Fed Chair Jerome Powell next year, Waller was one of two Fed governors to dissent from the July FOMC decision to hold the central bank’s benchmark interest rate steady in a range between 4.25%-4.5%. It was the first time multiple governors had opposed a committee rate decisio …
