Nick Timiraos Says Current Data Do Not Justify Fed Rate Cut in January

Wall Street Journal reporter Nick Timiraos, often described as a "Fed whisperer", said on Dec. 16 that the latest U.S. labor data show the unemployment rate rose to 4.564% in November, up 12 basis points from 4.440% in September. He noted that Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week the central bank expects its policy stance to keep unemployment broadly stable or "only rise another one or two tenths of a percentage point", and that the new jobs report supports the rate cuts already implemented but on its own is not enough to trigger panic leading to a January cut. After today's U.S. employment and retail sales data, U.S. interest-rate futures are still pricing in two cuts in 2026, while the implied probability of a 25-basis-point Fed rate cut in January next year rose slightly from 24.4% to 31%, BlockBeats reports.