Chief Economist of Apollo Group: The Fed may not cut interest rates this year

On March 4, if gold prices want to continue to rebound above $2,100, the Federal Reserve needs to cut interest rates. But Long reasonable reasons suggest that a rate cut may not happen. Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Group in New York, believes that the Fed will not cut interest rates this year. The reasons are as follows: the U.S. economy is not slowing down, but re-accelerating; the underlying measure of trend inflation is rising; super-core inflation is rising; the labor market remains tight, initial jobless claims are low, and wage inflation remains between 4% and 5%; small businesses say they plan to raise selling prices and workers’ wages; manufacturing and services ISM surveys show that prices paid are rising; asking rents are rising again, as are house prices; and the Fed’s policy pivot in December led to an easing of financial conditions.