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Updated Sep 17, 2025, 8:23\u202fp.m. <\/span>Published Sep 17, 2025, 6:05\u202fp.m. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Federal Reserve has returned to easing mode after ten months of taking a wait and see approach on the U.S. economy.<\/p>\n In a widely expected move on Wednesday, the U.S. central bank cut its benchmark fed funds interest rate range by 25 basis points to 4%-4.25%, the lowest since December 2022, in what Fed chair Jerome Powell called a “risk management cut.”<\/p>\n The Fed acknowledged that economic growth in the first half of the year “moderated” and the job market has “slowed.” This slowdown, Powell said during a press conference, is mostly due to changes in immigration. Nevertheless, there was no widespread support for a larger cut, he said, and that the Fed was right to wait to lower rates and will not be rushed to cut more aggressively.<\/p>\n The decision follows growing signs that the U.S. labor market has begun to decisively weaken, the latest being the August employment report which showed the addition of just 22,000 jobs to the economy and the unemployment rate rising to 4.3%, the highest since 2021.<\/p>\n “The Fed is under pressure to lean more dovish, and any successor to Powell is likely to favor faster and deeper rate reductions,” Chris Rhine, Head of Liquid Active Strategies at Galaxy, said. “While risk assets had largely priced in this cut, the updated dot plot aligns with recent sell-side forecasts, pointing to another 50bps of cuts ahead.”<\/p>\n Alongside that data, revisions to previous months’ reports showed far less jobs had been created than previously thought.<\/p>\n Added to that was political pressure in the form of President Trump’s repeated criticisms of the Fed\u2019s hesitancy to act in the face of what he insists has been softening inflation. Powell said during Wednesday’s press conference that the Fed is “strongly committed to maintaining [its] independence.”<\/p>\n In the minutes following the rate cut, the price of bitcoin BTC<\/span>Bitcoin ‘new highs’ possible<\/h4>\n