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President Donald Trump on Friday applied fresh pressure on the Federal Reserve over interest-rate policy, and told reporters he was considering an executive order over a citizenship question on the 2020 census.
FED PRESSURE
With chances of an interest-rate cut reduced after the better-than-expected June jobs report, Trump repeated a call for the Fed to lower rates and said it would further boost the economy.
“If we had a Fed that would lower rates, you would have a rocket ship,” Trump said. The president, a frequent critic of the Fed’s past interest-rate hikes, said the central bank “doesn’t know what it’s doing.”
The monthly payrolls report showed the economy added 224,000 jobs in June. Economists said the report removed any chances the Fed would cut rates by a half-point at its July 30-31 meeting, but most do expect a quarter-point reduction.
Read: Stocks retreat from record levels as strong jobs report puts interest-rate cuts in question.
U.S. stock indexes DJIA, -0.25% SPX, -0.42% COMP, -0.45% fell after Friday’s jobs report, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, +4.89% climbed back above 2%.
CITIZENSHIP QUESTION
Departing the White House for New Jersey, Trump said he has four or five options on a citizenship question.
“We could start the printing now and maybe do an addendum after we get a positive decision,” Trump said. “So we’re working on a lot of things including an executive order.”
Last week, the Supreme Court halted the administration’s effort to ask residents on the Census whether they are citizens. The White House has said it’s searching for a legally acceptable way to include the question.
Now see: In reversal, Justice Department still pushing for citizenship question on 2020 census.
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