US President Donald Trump has again urged Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to cut interest rates, following a weak report from payrolls processing firm ADP that showed sluggish job growth in May.
Powell must cut rates now, Trump urged. Europe has cut rates nine times,” Trump said in a post on the Truth Social platform.
ADP on Wednesday reported that U.S. private sector employment rose much less than expected, with just 37,000 new jobs added in May, compared with 60,000 in April, a figure that was also revised lower. Economists interviewed by Reuters had previously expected an increase of 110,000 jobs for the month.
The ADP data came ahead of a more comprehensive official jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, due out on Friday. Meanwhile, Trump, who has been publicly and privately critical of Powell for months, has again raised questions about the independence of the Federal Reserve under his administration, even though he recently said he would not fire Powell before his term ends in May 2026.
