Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran said Friday that the weak February jobs report bolsters the rationale for the central bank to lower interest rates further.Responding to the drop of 92,000 in nonfarm payrolls that the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, Miran said in a CNBC interview that the Fed should be focusing more on supporting the labor market than worrying about inflation.”I think that we don’t have an inflation problem,” he said on the “Money Movers” show. “I think that the labor market can use more accommodation from monetary policy. And I don’t see having a modestly restrictive stance of monetary policy as opposed to a neutral stance as being appropriate. I think being close to neutral is appropriate.”Currently, the Fed’s key interest rate is targeted in a range between 3.5% to 3.75%, following three consecutive quarter percentage point cuts in the latter part of 2025.If Miran had his way, the rate would be around neutral, which he deems to be about a full percentage point lower. The consensus of Fed officials at the December meeting was that neutral — a level neither holds back nor boosts the economy — is around 3.1%, implying two more cuts.Miran has been arguing that stubbornly high inflation numbers are more a function of how it is measured by the Commerce and Labor departments rather than true underlying pressures.One factor he cited was portfolio management fees, which have risen amid a generally higher stock market. Portfolio management fees are often charge …
