Washington (CNN) — Last month, the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by a supersized half point in a bid to maintain the job market’s strength, Chair Jerome Powell explained in a news conference after the decision was announced.
But when fresh data this Friday showed the job market is more robust than even the Fed chair thought, some analysts saw it as an opportunity to engage in what Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak, Boston Consulting Group’s chief economist, called “everyone’s favorite pastime:” bashing the Fed.
“Did the Fed even need to cut rates in September, let alone cut by 50bps (basis points)?” Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, wrote in a note on Friday. James Knightley, chief international economist at ING, said in a statement: “The Fed should be hiking rates with these sorts of figures, not cutting rates.”
Even before the Fed’s September rate cut, some investors criticized the central bank for not cutting at its July policy meeting and said officials were behind …