President Trump on Wednesday reiterated calls for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates, leaning on new data that found the fewest private sector jobs in more than two years were added in May.
“ADP NUMBER OUT!!! ‘Too Late’ Powell must now LOWER THE RATE. He is unbelievable!!! Europe has lowered NINE TIMES!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
The ADP report that Trump referenced found payrolls increased by 37,000 in May, which was below the 60,000 increase in April and the lowest month job total since March 2023, CNBC reported.
The report also found that in May, the annual pay grew at a 4.5 percent rate for those steady in their jobs and at a 7 percent rate for people who changed jobs.
The president met with Powell last week, amid his ongoing criticism over the central bank’s decision to hold interest rates steady. The president told him that he believes he’s making a mistake by not lowering interest rates, the White House said at the time.
Trump has repeatedly bashed Powell, whom he first appointed in 2017, and when asked last month about potentially meeting with him, the president said doing so would be “like talking to a wall.”
The Fed chair had also told reporters he had not asked for a meeting with Trump, had never requested a meeting with any president and wouldn’t do so while in office before they ended up meeting.
Trump has called the chair “Too Late” and a “fool,” while Powell has defended not reducing rates as the Fed waits to see how the president’s whipsaw trade policies and tax cut plans affect a sturdy U.S. economy. Meanwhile, the president has said he has no intentions of firing the central bank leader.