Investors have been on edge throughout 2024 waiting for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates and juice the market. But every time there seems to be enough evidence for the staunchly “data-dependent” Fed chair to begin this long forecast rate-cutting cycle, another hot inflation or jobs report comes out and ruins the party.
Friday’s nonfarm payroll data was the latest example of this frustrating trend. Many investors hoped the jobs numbers would show that the labor market is cooling, enabling the Fed to move up the timing of its rate cuts.
