Fed's Mouthpiece: The Non-Farm Payroll Report Provides Ample Reason for the Fed to Hold Steady This Month

According to Jin Shi's report, "the Federal Reserve's mouthpiece" Nick Timiraos recently wrote: "Tonight's employment report for December provides ample reason for Federal Reserve officials to maintain a wait-and-see attitude at this month's meeting, with non-farm payrolls increasing by only 50,000, and the three-month average for private sector hiring dropping to 29,000, the second-lowest growth rate of the year. This sluggish pace of job growth highlights the dynamic characteristics of the labor market in 2025, where 'hiring is slow, and layoffs are also slow.'

However, the decline in the unemployment rate has temporarily alleviated extreme concerns about the deterioration of the labor market. It is this concern that has prompted the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in the last three meetings. The report reinforces market expectations that the Federal Reserve will remain on hold at the meeting from January 27 to 28, but the weak hiring data also ensures that the debate about the health of the labor market is far from over."