Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell heads to Capitol Hill for two days of testimony this week before House and Senate committees that oversee the central bank and the financial industry. Fed chairs are required by law to appear before Congress twice a year.
The hearings come as President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on all foreign steel and aluminum coming into the country.
Members of Congress may urge that he cut rates more quickly. He will also likely be grilled about issues that are taking a higher profile under the Trump administration, such as crypto regulation, banking regulation, and allegations of “de-banking.”
The government said Friday that employers added a solid number of jobs last month while the unemployment rate ticked down for the second straight month to 4%, historically quite low. Hiring in November and December was revised much higher.
The jobs report “bolsters our confidence that the Fed cutting cycle is over,” economists at Bank of America wrote in a note Friday.
While Fed officials penciled in two rate cuts this year at their December meeting, economists and Wall Street investors are increasingly skeptical, with some predicting no reductions at all this year.