Federal Reserve governor Chris Waller said Friday he had a “great interview” to potentially succeed Jerome Powell as chair of the central bank, while warning the U.S. labor market is so weak it may actually be contracting.
In an interview with Steve Liesman of CNBC’s Squawk Box, Waller described his job interview for the chairman position, a formal process confirmed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in July, as “just serious economic discussion.” Waller, who has been a Fed governor since 2020, said: “There was nothing political about it,” an indirect response to accusations of the Fed’s independence being undermined during the second Trump administration. He said they talked about various aspects of the Fed, various speeches Waller has given, and his viewpoints on various subjects. Then Waller held forth on the economy and the sputtering labor market.
