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Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran said Friday that the weak February jobs report bolsters the rationale for the central bank to lower interest rates further.<\/p>\n
Responding to the drop of 92,000 in nonfarm payrolls<\/a> that the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, Miran said in a CNBC interview that the Fed should be focusing more on supporting the labor market than worrying about inflation.<\/p>\n “I think that we don’t have an inflation problem,” he said on the “Money Movers<\/a>” show. “I think that the labor market can use more accommodation from monetary policy. And I don’t see having a modestly restrictive stance of monetary policy as opposed to a neutral stance as being appropriate. I think being close to neutral is appropriate.”<\/p>\n Currently, the Fed’s key interest rate is targeted in a range between 3.5% to 3.75%, following three consecutive quarter percentage point cuts in the latter part of 2025.<\/p>\n If Miran had his way, the rate would be around neutral, which he deems to be about a full percentage point lower. The consensus of Fed officials at the December meeting was that neutral \u2014 a level neither holds back nor boosts the economy \u2014 is around 3.1%, implying two more cuts.<\/p>\n Miran has been arguing<\/a> that stubbornly high inflation numbers are more a function of how it is measured by the Commerce and Labor departments rather than true underlying pressures.<\/p>\n One factor he cited was portfolio management fees, which have risen amid a generally higher stock market. Portfolio management fees are often charged as a percentage of assets, so when markets rise the dollar value of those fees increases even though the underlying rate for those services does not.<\/p>\n The recent surge in oil prices<\/a> and corresponding boost for costs at the pump related to the Iran war are less of a concern, Miran added.<\/p>\n “Typically, the Federal Reserve doesn’t respond to higher oil prices like that. It [boosts] headline inflation, but it tends to be a one-off shock,” he said. “When you think about core inflation [which does not include energy prices], it tends to be more predictive of where inflation is going over the medium term than headline inflation.”<\/p>\n Miran has dissented<\/a> at each of the Federal Open Market Committee meetings he has attended since September, after President Donald Trump nominated him as a governor. For the three rate cuts, he preferred more aggressive half percentage point reductions to the quarter-point moves the committee approved. In January, when the FOMC voted not to cut, Miran said he wanted a quarter-point reduction.<\/p>\n Asked if he would dissent again, he said, “I hope not, but that would be up to my colleagues. I hope that we vote to cut.”<\/p>\n Miran was appointed<\/a> to full the unexpired term of Adriana Kugler, who resigned in August 2025. That term expired in January, but Miran has continued to serve until a successor is approved. Trump nominated Kevin Warsh<\/a> to a position that ultimately will be a replacement for current Fed Chair Jerome Powell<\/a>, whose term expires in May.<\/p>\n “I will be at the meeting in a couple weeks, and after that I will take it a day at a time,” Miran said.<\/p>\n