Trump praises strong January non-farm payrolls, calls for significant rate cuts again

Eastern Time Wednesday, February 11, U.S. President Trump praised the latest January non-farm payroll data and reiterated his view that U.S. interest rates should be significantly lowered.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced that in January, 130,000 new jobs were added, far exceeding market expectations of 55,000; the January unemployment rate decreased from 4.4% to 4.3%, reaching a new low since August 2025.

On Wednesday, Trump posted on his self-created social media platform Truth Social, saying, “The United States should pay much lower costs for borrowing (bonds!).”

“We are once again the strongest country in the world, so we should pay the lowest interest rates, and far below other countries,” he wrote.

Last fall, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates three consecutive times by 25 basis points, lowering the federal funds rate to a range of 3.5%–3.75%. However, at the recent rate meeting last month, the Fed paused its rate cuts.

Although Trump linked the strong January non-farm data to rate cuts, the release of this report actually dampened market expectations for the Fed’s rate cuts this year.

After the data was released, traders reduced their bets on Fed rate cuts and fully priced in the possibility of the Fed making its next cut in July, rather than June.

Trump has repeatedly stated that U.S. interest rates should be among the lowest in the world and urged the Fed to cut rates to 1%. In the context of an inflation rate around 2%, this effectively means Trump hopes to achieve negative real interest rates.

The Fed has set 2% as its long-term inflation target and tends to use the core PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index) as its inflation measure.

Last month, Trump announced the nomination of former Fed Board member Kevin Woe to succeed Jerome Powell as the new Fed Chair. Powell’s term as Fed Chair will end in May this year.

Compared to other candidates Trump had previously considered, Woe’s stance on monetary policy is more hawkish. However, some institutions believe the market may have overestimated Woe’s hawkish stance, and under his leadership, the Fed’s easing measures this year could exceed investor expectations.

(Source: Caixin)