Biden says Fed rate cut is impor­tant but ‘doesn’t mean our work is done’

Pres­i­dent Joe Biden said the Fed­er­al Reserve‘s rate cut is “impor­tant” but only the first step dur­ing a speech before the Eco­nom­ic Club of Wash­ing­ton, D.C.
“It doesn’t mean our work is done,” Biden said. “Far from it.”
The Fed cut inter­est rates by half a per­cent­age point on Wednes­day, the first time it had trimmed rates in more than four years. The new rate tar­get, 4.75% to 5.00%, is still one of the high­est seen this cen­tu­ry, a result of the Fed seek­ing to tamp down infla­tion that peaked at 9.1% in 2022.
Biden blamed the high infla­tion on the pan­dem­ic and the Russ­ian inva­sion of Ukraine, though Repub­li­cans say his own spend­ing, such as the $1.9 tril­lion Amer­i­can Res­cue Plan he signed into law short­ly after tak­ing office, is a big­ger cul­prit.
Pres­i­dent Joe Biden speaks about falling infla­tion and inter­est rates at the Eco­nom­ic Club of Wash­ing­ton, D.C., on Thurs­day, Sept. 19, 2024. (Graeme Jen­nings / Wash­ing­ton Exam­in­er)
Biden hailed the spend­ing bill, say­ing it helped peo­ple get vac …