Fed's Waller says may need to hold current rate for longer than expected, no rush to cut

Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller

• 'Still no rush' to cutting rates in current economy
• Fed may need to maintain current rate target for longer than expected
• Needs to see more inflation progress before supporting rate cut
• Needs at least a couple of months of data to be sure inflation heading to 2%
• Still expects Fed to cut rates later this year
• Economy’s strength gives Fed space to take stock of data
• Data suggests fewer rate cuts possible this year
• Economy is growing at a healthy pace
• Despite progress on inflation, recent data has been disappointing
• Data has showed mixed messages on jobs front
• Fed has made a lot of progress lowering inflation
• Wage pressures have been easing
• Unsure productivity will keep at current strong pace

I posted last weekend on the bombshell from Bostic:

• Fed's Bostic say he now anticipates only one rate cut this year

And I've reposted it and linked to it a number of times. It fits with comments from Kashkari back at the beginning of this month:

• If economy continues to be healthy, why would we cut rates

And markets are beginning to be swayed:

• "Why a Fed rate cut in June is not yet a done deal"

FOMC members are beginning to pile in on 'higher for longer' and 'fewer cuts in 2024'. I hear the regular excuses:

• <insert name here ... Bostic, Waller, Kashkari(!)> is a hawk, of course (s)he'd say that

But if you are holding on to a June rate cut call, or for 3 rate cuts this year my advice is to stick it where you stuck the call for 6 (sometimes 7!) rate cuts that plagued us early in the new year.